Before we start, I encourage you to sit tight and grab some popcorn, cause this is a long one 🙂
I’ve spent a lot of my life asking “what should I do in life?” Not a bad question to ask, but what I’ve come to realize is that it might be more helpful to ask a few other questions first. Through many conversations with teammates, namely Josh and Hannah, reading books, and taking time to be still before the Lord, I have begun to discover my calling and purpose in life. And let me tell you, I get sooooo excited when I get to talk about it, pray about it, think about it, and when God reveals more of it to me. This idea of ‘calling’ lights me up for it is when we are walking in our purpose and our calling from God that I believe we come alive and begin to live life abundantly. We move from living a good life to living life abundant!
Before we can discover what we should do in life, I believe we need to discover our calling. Calling is different from vocation. And before we discover our calling (or better to say before God reveals it to us), I believe it’s important to understand ‘who we are’. Who am I? Who is Hunter Beck? It’s something I thought I had a pretty good grip on, but wow the Lord has spoken so much truth and identity into my life through out this year, beyond what my eyes had originally seen. I see myself in a completely new light. I better understand my identity and who I truly am from my time out here on the Race. I did a study with God on my identity. Below is a picture of the truths from the Bible that I went through and it has been wildly uplifting for my life to speak these truths over myself. Cutting out the lies of the world and my own head and filling that space with who I really am.
I met a 19 year old girl on the Camino and she said something that I believe was profound and wise beyond her years. When asked about her future, she said,
“I may not know what I want to do, but at least I know who I am.”
She is much further along that I was when I was 19 and frankly, I think she is much further along than a lot of individuals. I can’t quite put into words why this made such an impression on me. It’s a bit beyond my thinking, but she is getting at the core of it I think. Who we are directs our actions in life (or at least should I believe). I am reading this book, Garden City, by John Mark Comer. It is *rocking. my. world!* It is a book about our calling, rest and sabbath, and being truly human. In his book, he writes,
“If we fight the image of God in us – even if we succeed in the short run – it will come back to eat us alive. if you’re an introvert and you go into sales and you’re with people ten hours a day – it will suck you dry.” (Comer 74)
Tozer speaks to this same point in his Pursuit of God. He talks about the importance of living into who we truly are. We are children of God, made in God’s image – beautiful, intellectual, creative. I wrote this in my journal after reading some of Tozer and wanted to pass it along (much of this writing is inspired by my reading of Tozer).
“We have become divided in our own mind who we are. To become like Christ is to become who we are. To become like the world is simply to put on a mask and to be who we are not. To be who we truly are, to embrace our true humanity, we must become like Christ. We will never receive rest until we become not only who we were meant to be, but who we are, our very selves. We constantly seek self-expression. I think it is because we notice the danger and dishonesty with being someone we are not. The problem is we look inward to discover [ourselves] rather than looking upwards. For it is when we look upwards to God that we see truth, we see who we truly are in Christ, a beautiful image that reflects and refracts His glory, creativity, design, beauty. Wow! We are so much greater and more beautiful than we think ourselves to be. And it is because we compare ourselves with each other and view ourselves through the lens of the world. The standard we look to has been set by this world. But our beauty and who we are is exquisite! When we see ourselves how we ought to is when we don’t see shame, but awe. I believe the same awe that is invoked from a sunset is the same awe that can be and should be invoked when we look in the mirror and at the people all around us everyday. We are a beautiful and amazing creation! Truly and utterly amazing!”
Embracing God and His way of doing things is embracing our full humanity, how we were originally designed. It is no wonder that we feel frustrated, anxious, out of sync or like ‘something’s off’ when we start pursuing life contrary to how God designed us. We are trying to operate according to a standard and in a way that is opposite of who we truly are, opposite of our humanity. We were made for God, and thus life abundant comes from drawing nearer to Him and walking into who He made us and His original plan for us.
I think discovering who we are is really important. I have begun to pose the question to myself, ‘What makes me come alive?’ ‘Where do I thrive?’ ‘What fills me with energy?’ And conversely, ‘What takes energy from me?’ I love contemplating this question and I believe it is a journey. A steady awareness as I go through out life. I don’t have to answer this question today. I can discover it as I journey through life. This is a freeing idea in and of itself – if it doesn’t get done today, that’s ok, we go after it again tomorrow. We are eternal beings, so what doesn’t get done today, can be worked on tomorrow.
Ultimately, who we are helps inform our purpose and calling. And I believe our vocation/work/what we do everyday and our calling are two different things. They should be deeply integrated. Our job and work can change, but our calling, which is informed by how we are hard-wired, what fills us with life, the thing that we think “man, I was made for this!”, is a bit more steady and stays with us. While it may evolve over time, our calling is what we were set on earth to do. I understand not everyone gets to do what they love for work, but I love how Comer comments on this. He says, “In the West – because of the our staggering level of wealth, we have a chance to follow our heart. It’s crazy to me that some people don’t at least try.”
So, we go on a self-discovery, then what? And how do I find the time for that? I think one of the greatest things we can do to discover who we are and then discover our calling in life is ‘Listen’. Be still. Stay quiet. Stay calm. Stay patient. Discovering your calling doesn’t happen over night. At least not to the majority of people I believe. It is drawing into the presence of God and listening. Asking Him what is on His heart and being still. My greatest revelations have come from taking a walk by myself, sitting in worship, being still, talking to God on the beach at 2am in the morning. Many times, they have come when I was not expecting, when I wasn’t particularly seeking God on my calling. All the more reason to always be attentive that the Lord could be speaking. When He does, pause, and take some time to enjoy the beautiful voice of God. We are never in a rush to hear from God. I have learned to love the previous voice of God when He speaks to me! His presence is what I desire most and I am just blessed that He speaks to me about what I love – my calling and purpose in life. There’s no one way to find calling in life, so explore, discover, adventure, journey.
So what has God been sharing with me about purpose? SO much! Garden City by John Mark Comer truly has had a massive impact on me! He shares how we were put on earth to rule, fill, and subdue the earth. This is kingship language. Comer notes,
“The Garden was dynamic, not static. Put another way, creation was a project, not a product”.
This is just the coolest in my mind!! God’s plan from the beginning was that we would join with Him to create society and cause humanity to flourish! And he trusts us with this responsibility! We are not just God’s workers, we are His partners, His coworkers, we are part owners of this world! This is mind-boggling and at the same time infuses our life with SO much purpose!! Personally, I believe that one day God will unite this earth we live in with Heaven. I believe our future world will be the world that we are standing on. I understand there are tons of views on this. But with the view I hold, I see that my work goes beyond the here and now, because I believe we are creating what Heaven and eternity will look like. Talk about significance and purpose in our everyday life!!
I believe we are called to create culture, dance, music, fashion, education, institutions, medicine, and the list goes on. This is part of our calling. Bringing society and human flourishing from the raw materials of this world. How cool!? And this can be done in soooo many different ways. Thus, I believe it is important that everyone embraces their calling and pursues it in life. And, it is never too late to start pursuing calling (take a look at Moses’ story). We are all unique and thus all have a unique calling. And also what God has been showing me is that each and every person has an equally significant divine calling from God. From the 9 year girl in the small pueblo in rural Peru that taught me how to select coconuts and cut them with a machete, to the partner of the investment banking firm in NY, to the small business owner in a small college town. My calling is no more or less important or significant. Every single person has an equally significant calling. This is beautiful. This is equality.
In my work, I want to help people’s lives flourish, I want to take care of this world that we live in, I want to better society and humanity through out life. What some people may see as secular work (creating medicine for the good of humanity, advancing technology, bettering communications, creating art), if it is helping lives flourish and taking care of this world, I believe it is a part of God’s original plan for creating and cultivating society! For creating a city from Eden. For creating the New Jerusalem! Beautiful!
No matter where we are called, I hope that lives can be bettered. We can love people genuinely. We can be a voice for those who aren’t heard. We can speak true identity into each individual. We can be a place of peace. We can be a place for furthering society – a place of creativity, ideation, inspiration, entrepreneurialism, etc..
It goes beyond money and wealth, success, comforts, and anything else that speaks to my fleshly desires. Pursuing what God has put me on this earth to do is a crazy, wild, and exciting life to me! This is more exciting than any wealth I could accrue. Chris Renzema in his song, I Don’t Wanna Go, says,
“It’s through the WILD You make Your way!”
I love this. We may not know the 5 year plan, but we take a first step where God wants us and just hold on. I believe God’s plan is a lot bigger than the plan we could conceive anyways. Continue to pursue it and walk in your purpose. It’s not a race. We may go at a ‘slower’ pace than our neighbor. That’s ok. We simply walk in our humanity, our feelings, our emotions, our desires, our calling. Embrace the humanity that God has given you as you go on your journey. Life is more fun that way. Comer writes,
“Just start living. Follow your heart. Don’t be afraid to try stuff. Don’t take failures too seriously. For that matter, don’t take success too seriously either.”
We’re on a journey. Just flow with it.
I watched Deepwater Horizons and Billionaire Boys Club (BBC). I am not recommending either, but both were extremely encouraging to me. I realized that profits and money and success and wealth are fading. They are secondary. BBC is about a group of young investors. Their story shows how they needed more and more money to keep up with the losses that they were facing. In a very raw film, they ended up engaging in murder, theft, and on and on. Quite sad, but also quite sobering. Through listening to Tim Keller and through other readings by Keller and Comer, I’ve been encouraged to pursue business with a mindset of ‘how will this bring Heaven to Earth?’ How will what I do cultivate society and help people’s lives flourish and draw people closer to God. Profits are important, but how much better to forego a business endeavor or investment or even sacrifice profit in order for the business to join with God’s original plan of cultivating the Earth and bringing about life and flourishing. What beauty there is in making less money or profits in order to make lives better and take care of this earth through the very nature and operations of the business. It is more fulfilling. It aligns with God’s original intent and mandate to humanity. It excites me that our callings can be a part of making human lives better and creating society and culture and creating the new world that we will inhabit forever.
Our lives our flooded with purpose if we simply choose to step into it. Life gets really exciting when we walk in the calling that God has for us. We can lead good lives and be successful and have impact for God’s Kingdom in a variety of jobs. I think just maybe God wants to take us from a ‘good life’ to ‘LIFE ABUNDANT’ and that comes by understanding who we are, which helps us discover our calling (also through God’s revelation), which then directs what we do with our day-to-day life. It’s a journey, it’s a process and I continually learn more and more and more from God on what my calling is (super exciting!). I can’t wait to walk in it more. I believe the more we walk in our calling, the more God reveals. The more He increases our heart’s desires for things, the more He reveals new things and changes and creates loves in our hearts for things we never knew. God can change hearts like this. He can get us super excited for something that before we had never given a second thought.
I encourage you to be open to whatever He lays on your heart, even if at first it doesn’t grab your attention! Remember, God can change hearts. Get excited to hear from God and have “great expectation” (1 Peter 1:3). Listen for His voice often, even when you’re not specifically seeking it. Remember your life has eternal and divine purpose – no less or more important than anyone else in this world. You are a part of God’s plan in bringing Heaven to Earth. This is exciting! An honor! Humbling! Enjoy the journey! And remember to love people all along the way! 🙂
