April 11, 2009
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Vocation for Validation — NOT!
We went on our women’s retreat a couple of weekends ago. I don’t think I have ever gone on a retreat so thoroughly grounded in and overflowing with God’s Word!! It was refreshing! And the speaker was a Nouthectic counselor, so for me, as I am studying to be one, it was invaluable to see solid biblical foundations applied to every situation.
Over the next few posts I am going to attempt to pass along some what I got out of it.
The topic was vocation…all the different callings in our lives. Things like: mother, friend, congregant, daughter, sister, student, youth group leader, etc, etc, etc… the complete list is different for all of us.
One of the first points Christa, our speaker, made is that our vocation isn’t for validation.
So much of the time, especially as homemakers, we might fall into the trap feeling my “job” is unfulfilling; it’s just the same thing over and over and over. This may lead to a tendency to want to search after other things that seem more fulfilling, but which compete for our attention in some non-negotiable jobs we have. For instance, if I join a bible study group (or offer to lead one) to get out of the house 4 days a week, but my chores aren’t getting done or my house is in disarray.
So somewhere along the line we lose God’s prospective, and we start thinking that our vocation is sought for self-fulfillment.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says: So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever — not glorifying and enjoying ourselves. We tend to miss this because we are constantly looking to being fulfilled.
Christa shared: “It is a wrong understanding of vocation to spend a lifetime of chasing after something that never exists [fulfillment apart from God] while missing the purpose and calling that encompasses our lives TODAY” [in either our non-negotiable vocations (motherhood, student, daughter, wife, etc) or our negotiable ones (homeschooling, serving at church, working, etc)!]
Every relationship we are in, every job we do, the place we live, our neighbors, our church, etc, etc, etc, God has specifically placed us by His wisdom, for His purposes and glory. And for our good!!
She encouraged us to memorize this:
“You are where you are, doing what you are doing, connected to whom you are connected, under given authorities, not because you have put yourself there in order to find fulfillment, but because God has put you there for His purposes.”
I find that I am needed to renew my mind to this — renewed to the fact that God placed me exactly where I am to glorify Him in everything I do.
When we truly comprehend that, seeking our own fulfillment will fall by the wayside.
…to be continued…
Comments (2)
Hmmm… I’m glad I read this. I’m struggling with taking a semester off of grad school due to medical reasons – and for my entire life (except for before preschool!) a large chunk of my ID has been as “student.” I’m really not sure how to deal with not having that in my life… it’s been a process, even though I know I’m going back to it in August. It’s an “identity crisis,” and I’m struggling to see that my true self does not lie in what I do – including the realm of academia and all it encompasses. Thanks for sharing what you gleaned out of this convention.
Wow thanks so much for sharing this as I have found myself in that place…thanks Diane, I will try and get by and read the next post.
Hope you had a blessed Easter.