Far too much has been made of our “identity” devoid of our purpose, especially when there are definite personality types that are geared toward, and driven by, purpose. For too long, much has been made of such purpose as a weakness, as if it, our work, our passion, cannot coexist as part of us.
I love the trendy word, “flow”. It’s that state of being you’re in where you love doing what you do. It gives us energy, motivates, and inspires us. We tend to be talented in those activities where we’re in a state of flow. There’s a symbiosis between what we do and who we are, and the ‘who we are’ (our calling) is gratified in being efficient and effective, and where there’s seemingly little effort.
I love writing these articles because I’m often in flow when I get an idea to write on. I find it’s as if my fingers or voice commands can struggle to keep up with what God’s revealing to be written and it seems to come out without even a great deal of thought. I’ve found it inspiring over the last 15-years to write 400-words in 20-minutes, or a 1,000-word article in an hour, especially when there’s very little editing to do.
Another thing that brings me into flow is meeting with individuals, couples, and families in the pastoral counselling space. I’ve found counselling gives me energy and doesn’t deplete me. It doesn’t demand too much of me as I don’t take on people’s stuff, whilst I have the spiritual gifting, the heart, the ability, personality, and life experiences for it. Unfortunately, of recent, I’ve not had the time to invest in counselling, and that’s okay, for the time being.
Writing and counselling have kept me afloat over the recent years when I’ve had to work in secular roles that don’t allow me to get into flow, roles that are not my calling.
I’d imagine that you are probably like me in that you may not have the luxury of accessing flow in your main paid role. So many people work in areas of skill but not in the areas of passion, and that’s okay when access to work you’re passionate about isn’t there or can’t be supported vocationally.
This is where Christian service allows us to work in areas of calling and gifting. More and more people are working in their areas of calling as volunteers these days. It can satisfy deep longings.
The thing is we should all be able to enjoy the work of our calling without feeling guilty about it, without feeling like people think that our work is part of our identity in problematic ways. Conversely, flow-state work IS part of our identity because it is our service, and central to service is our passion.
It delights God when we are in a flow state in our work, when we are doing what we were designed to do, and when we are lost in our work, absolutely in bliss in our mind, heart, and soul. It brings intrinsic joy and is God-provided.
A huge part of who we are is what we can do, especially when it’s a labour of love. And all labours of love are glorifying to God.
I sometimes get suspicious about people’s motives when they call into question how much “rest” people get because when we work in our flow states, we’re more replenished than depleted. The trouble we all have is getting enough opportunity to work in our flow state.
We live in a culture that prides itself on being busy whilst also disdaining hard work. Our culture has a confused relationship with work, making toxic what is blessed.
We shouldn’t need to worry that we’ll “burn out” when we’re engaged in our passion and calling. In our inner being we’re affirmed in ways that are intrinsic to our being.
We should be careful, however, when we’re working hard in areas that we’re not called in.
Where the motivation is extrinsic, we’re more likely to be anxious, stressed, frustrated, and distracted because we’re not passionate about what we’re doing. This will explain why you feel the way you do in your work if you’re not passionate about what you do.
There are some vocations we’re called to that will be inherently straining, like parenting if we’re parents. The calling is in keeping our children safe and helping them grow, but for so many reasons we most often won’t be in a flow state because of the external source of the many complexities involved.
But I want to encourage you to break the shackles of other people’s expectations around your calling, gifting, passions, and service.
A lot of the time our need of rest comes out of the tasks and activities that drain us, that we loath and despise. Or when our calling extends us farther than what is sustainable, it can jade us in our calling. Discovering our callings and passions, and spending more of our time doing them, is central to our life’s purpose and provide much meaning for life.
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