Choosing a career path can be overwhelming for a young person. And even the not-so-young-anymore types know how a career path can twist and turn with advancement, pivoting, and the unexpected.
The allure of a perfectly satisfying, immensely lucrative, and socially esteemed career is paralyzing. Many young people get so hung up on finding their “dream job” that they are blind to the endless opportunities for meaningful work right under their nose. What’s worse, even once in the workforce, it’s a real temptation to be continually dissatisfied with an otherwise good job because it doesn’t tick all the boxes of their subjective dream career.
If you are dizzied by your own career path, or perhaps looking to encourage a young person in their plans for the future, then a new book from Reformed Free Publishing might just the helpful resource you’ve been looking for – Finding My Vocation: A Guide For Young People Seeking A Calling.
The author, William Boekestein, has had a diverse career path of working in construction, a Christian school, and currently as an author and pastor. But aside from personal experience of different careers, Boekestein has a wealth of biblical wisdom to draw from in order to bless his readers.
Boekestein seeks to reintroduce the idea of vocation to his readers, being that categorical understanding of the life the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God had called him (1 Cor. 7:17). Or as he defines it, “Your vocation is the unique way in which God has chosen you to fit into his great plan” (p. 9). Without a clear view of Christ as Lord and Saviour, the temptation to use work as a way to make a name for oneself is just too great. Yet as our author states, “…faith in God and obedience to his Word can transform any valid work into worship” (p.11).
This book is absolutely brilliant in presenting a biblical view of vocation, which liberates a person to hit the ground running wherever they are in their career path. Not all work will be able to satisfy you, but a robust biblical perspective will “help you trancend the liabilities of working in a fallen world” (p. 12). When you aren’t looking to your career for your value, but instead you find your identify and purpose in being loved by Christ, you are now in a position to do really fruitful and rewarding work.
Boekestein gives solid biblical and practical advice on how to understand vocation, prepare for vocation and to practice one’s vocation. In this book he blends pastoral counsel for the heart with practical advice for the head and hands. He encourages the development of broad competence (learning to speak well, solve problems, work with a team and even develop some basic mechanical skills) which is transferable to almost endless career options.
To temper any pie-in-the-sky idealism, Boekestein recommends realistic career aspirations, taking into account God’s providence, personal limitations and actual opportunities (p.58). Far from limiting one’s vocational options, this actually might help reframe options previously dismissed.
An area of the book that I found very helpful was to remember your other vocations in life (ie. gender, family, church, etc). The differences of godly masculinity and femininity are significant to one’s aspirations. But also one has to think about the work-life balance, something that a young person should seek to find even if currently unmarried. Keeping your gender, your family and your church in view will help narrow the kind of work you you aspire to.
A relatively short read at just over 100 pages, this book is full of thought provoking gold nuggets. Boekestein researched this book very well and regularly quotes the best of the best on the subject matter at hand.
At the end of the book is an appendix of longer tailored answers to particular questions that may be more relevant to some than others:
- What if I hate my job?
- Is my vocation compromised by sin?
- Should I go to college?
- Is military service a good option for me?
- Am I called to the ministry?
I really enjoyed reading this book and only wish I had it in my hands when I was leaving high school. But even still I found it immediately relevant in my current season of career development. With that in mind, this book could be a great blessing in the context of discipleship.
This book would be dynamite if an older Christian wanted to encourage a young person in the search for vocation. Get two copies and prayerfully help the young person think through these things. But along the way, the older mentor will undoubtedly be challenged and spurred on in their own vocational calling. It’s just that good.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
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