Are You Able to Stay Focused in your Vocation?

Last updated on: October 1, 2014 at 12:11 pm by Bob Robinson

Are You Able to Stay Focused in your Vocation? 2014-10-01T12:11:42-04:00 Bob Robinson

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“The average person checks his cell phone 150 times each day. Is it any wonder that we feel unfocused and distracted?”

Marcus Goodyear asks this question in the series of posts at The High Calling on “Vocation Focus.”

Todd Lake reminds us of Frederick Buechner’s famous quote that we should look for our calling in the place “where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” And then offers this insight:

“Often, we think of this as finding the right job category and then plunging into work as a business person or doctor or teacher or mechanic.

But finding joy in our work takes more than just finding a job that lets us use the knowledge or skills that we have enjoyed learning. Once we enter the working world, we quickly realize that there are many ways to use the same set of abilities.”

J.B. Wood provides a very helpful list of “The Five Biggest Career Mistakes Christians Make,” and reminds us of this very important truth:

“God has created a pretty big world out there, but many of us Christians have a tunnel-vision tendency to block out a huge portion of it. We lose sight of the sacredness of work, the benefits of education, the spiritual value of a career, the impact of our potential influence in the marketplace.”

My friend Sam Van Eman, admittedly in the midst of a mid-life crisis, is on a sabbatical to figure out what he is supposed to be doing with his life. He writes a wonderful piece that ponders vocation focus.

“When it comes to vocational focus—an area where clarity means a great deal to me—I’m struggling. I know what my passions are. I thank God for all of them. I also want those who care to listen to hear a recognizable song in my work. Some might even find inspiration in it. But it’s unpolished. It’s cluttered with extra notes and inefficient labor, distractions and short-term vision. I’m at a point in life where my work often sounds too much like noise and not enough like music.”

Some people have trouble with vocation focus, as Angela Aadahl does. She is honest and insightful.

“Our world tells us we can go anywhere and achieve everything. Some of us just dive in and make things happen. Others are paralyzed by possibilities.”

And my friend and the managing editor for The High Calling, Deidra Riggs offers a devotion on 1 Chronicles 28:9-10. She writes about how hard it can be to stay focused.

“Distractions come in many forms, and no matter how holy our work may seem on some days, there are other days we’d rather not be bothered. There are days the work pales in comparison to the latest trend in social media or the plot twists in the newest novel or a bike ride on the trails beneath a harvest moon.”

Check out these articles at The High Calling’s theme on “Vocation Focus.”

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Image: Photo by Marty Hadding. Design by Jennifer Dukes Lee.

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