{"id":5255,"date":"2018-04-03T17:24:08","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T22:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=5255"},"modified":"2018-04-03T17:24:08","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T22:24:08","slug":"who-is-god-to-you-and-your-vocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2018\/04\/who-is-god-to-you-and-your-vocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is God to You and Your Vocation?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I have a confession. I\u2019m an introvert, and at times, being around other people drains me. This is especially true when I\u2019m in social settings for extended periods with people I don\u2019t know well. I\u2019m pretty good at hiding it and have learned to function at a high level in such settings when necessary. But on rare occasions, I\u2019ve reached my limit and done something I\u2019m not proud to admit: To escape, I\u2019ve pretended to receive an important call.
\nThere. I said it. I\u2019ve done it. Not often, but I\u2019ve done it.
\nI\u2019m guessing I\u2019m not alone. C\u2019mon, be honest. Have you ever found yourself in an uncomfortable social setting and pretended that someone was trying to reach you? You suddenly feel a phantom vibration and check the screen. You put the phone to your ear and say something like, \u201dHello? Oh, hey there. Yeah, I\u2019m at a party but can spare a minute. What\u2019s up?\u201d
\nOn the other end of this pretend phone call? Silence. Nothing. It\u2019s a fake conversation\u2014not a real call.<\/strong>
\nOs Guinness wrote, \u201cThere is no calling unless there is a Caller.\u201d[i]<\/a>
\nAn honest exploration of vocation really is the best way to live your twenties, because it takes hope, purpose, and meaning seriously. No pretending. No faking. This means you must fathom the true source of your calling and confront two timeless, hauntingly beautiful questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Who is God?<\/li>\n
  2. Who am I?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These are tough questions to explore, but if you want to know your calling, you need to know your caller. And you need to know who you are as the called. This may seem overly simplistic, but it\u2019s essential. Before you consider your own vision for a good and faithful life, it\u2019s important to orient yourself in light of God\u2019s character and story. To whom should you listen? Who is God? What about God\u2019s character shapes your story?
    \n\"\"
    \nConsider this question here and now:
    \nIf you believe in a God who calls you into being, a God who calls you to lean into faithful dimensions of the good life, does your understanding of vocation flow from a healthy understanding of who God truly is?
    \nComprehending God is tricky work because of his vastness and glory compared to our human limitations. The ancient Hebrew understanding of God illustrates this complexity. In the Old Testament, God is often referred to as Yahweh. For centuries this name has been written with the consonants YHWH and a couple of vowels. God is Yahweh, which means \u201cI am who I am\u201d or \u201cI will be who I will be.\u201d
    \nUm . . . okay.
    \nConsider it this way: God cannot be sufficiently defined or put into a category.<\/strong> He is who he is. He will be who he will be. Period. End of story. Nothing else compares or even comes close to the great I AM. As biblical theologian N. T. Wright once wrote, \u201cHe is his own category.\u201d    [ii]<\/a>
    \nTrying to comprehend the incomprehensible can be maddening. A serious exploration of the very nature and essence of God will invariably lead to gaps in your understanding. These gaps can be filled in a variety of ways. Filling them in unhealthy ways can result in damaging views of God.<\/p>\n

    The apostle Paul, in his first letter to the church in Corinth, wrote, \u201cNow we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:12). We may not be able to know God completely, but we still have eyes to see. And we can trust in the fact that he fully knows us.
    \nI want you to seek God and experience being fully known. We believe this is good news (\u201cgospel\u201d), for you truly love only what you know. God\u2019s call upon you flows from a unique love for you.<\/strong>
    \nTo be seen and known by God is powerfully explored in John 10, one of Jesus\u2019 famous \u201cI am\u201d statements: \u201cI am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. . . . I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me\u2014just as the Father knows me and I know the Father\u2014and I lay down my life for the sheep\u201d (verses 11, 14-15).
    \n\"\"
    \nThere is so much goodness in this metaphor, such an abundance of care, protection, provision, and sacrifice. Jesus boldly claimed, \u201cI have come that they may have life, and have it to the full\u201d (verse 10). This is who God truly is: the Good Shepherd of your twenties who gives you life.<\/strong>
    \nTake a moment to consider this. God desires full<\/em> life for you This full life is not generational or age dependent. Full life is for you, here and now. In your twenties. God gives you full life through his very nature as you follow him.
    \nConsider the following passages. Read them aloud and fathom them as they apply to your life:<\/strong><\/p>\n