The gift of vocation
Editors’ note: In this issue we introduce the first of a series of five columns from Calvin Tiessen, focusing on vocation through the lens of 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12. Calvin, Gabi and their family are on a one-year home assignment and Calvin will be spending part of his time building connections with people who are interested in fulfilling their vocation through church ministry or missions. But as you’ll read here, vocation is broader than that.
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
– 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 (ESV)
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Among the most inspiring experiences in my life, I have had the privilege to be present, on numerous occasions, to observe someone doing something with great joy that they are highly skilled to do.
I have observed masons in Tajikistan building walls with no more than a hair’s width of space between the masterfully laid stones. I have worked alongside Bible translators as they have created multi-lingual beauty from the poetry of David. I have been present at the end of a long summer’s day in the high mountain pastures of the Caucasus when a shepherd has gathered all his sheep into the fold, not one lost or missing. Through these moments, and many others, I have come to understand the concept of vocation.
When I look to Scripture for a Christian definition of vocation, I find a strong foundation in Paul’s prayer in 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12. It is a beautiful picture of how God works in us, giving shape to our lives, working with the desires he places in our hearts as we live out our faith, putting these desires into action. Christian vocation is a gift from God, from start to finish.
God’s hand in our lives starts with the “resolve for good” that we each have—our dreams, the ways we long to impact the world.
God’s hand in our lives starts with the “resolve for good” that we each have—our dreams, the ways we long to impact the world. Though the human heart is full of various desires and pursuits, I have come to recognize that in the life of every follower of Christ, there is always a seed, planted there by God, which he intends to cultivate. On our journey of life, it is important to allow him to reveal this seed. And when we have come to understand the “resolve for good” that he has placed in our hearts, it is the pursuit of this resolve which then defines the shape of our life. Our “works of faith,” the decisions we make in life, the actions we take to pursue our resolve for good are what become our vocation, the shape of our life that arises from responding to the calling of God.
What is the ‘resolute’ gift that God has given to you? What steps are you taking to clearly understand the “resolve for good” that is within you? In recent years I have been privileged to spend much of my time helping young cross-cultural ministers explore these questions. It has been inspiring to see budding orators discover a calling for teaching, engineers find their place digging water wells in remote places, and pilots making it possible for the Word of God to reach far corners of the planet. I have come to realize that today, we are living in an age like no other.
Whatever your resolve for good may be, it is quite likely you can find a meaningful way to love the world by pursuing this resolve. So, my encouragement to us all is this: Ask God to help you understand the resolve for good he has placed in you and see where he might take you—which walls of stone you may lay for him, which scriptures you may translate, which concrete acts of love, in his name, you may fulfill.
