The first artist, only one day into his new life, is given an important creative endeavor. We don't know if he also suffered from the first case of writers block or had to deal with the inner turmoil of staring at a blank canvas, but less than 24 hours into life in the Garden, Adam is given the first creative opportunity.
Name the animals.
Adam took his job seriously. God gave him a task, it was his job to make sure that the task was done. Adam set out to find an animal and give that animal the appropriate name.
Cat. Dog. Goat. Duck-Billed Platypus, thank you Adam.
The Bible never tells us why this was Adam's first task. We simply encountered a parade of animals brought before Adam one-by-one:
"Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field." - Genesis 2:19-20
God brought him animals, Adam named them. God designed his newly created world to exist with Adam working. Work, responsibility, and creativity are woven into the way God created the world, and it's good. Adam discovered his first vocation in the naming of animals. Before Adam is ever called to be a husband, he is the namer of the animals.
It wasn't all that complicated for Adam to discover this calling - the animals showed up and needed to be named.
When it comes to our life, however, we tend to make things a bit more complicated. We wait for a sign or a providential phone call to somehow clarify what God really wants for us. We struggle and stress over how God might be planning to use us.
What if instead of focusing so much on what God's calling us to someday, we looked at what God is calling us to today? What if we began to see what animals God had sent our away?
And it's not just one calling. After God gives Adam a job to name the animals, it gets better. Right after the animals get named, God knocks Adam out, takes out a rib, and makes a woman (whom Adam also names).
God gives Adam a wife. He now has another calling, be a good husband. Animals showed up and he named them. A wife shows up and he loves and cares for her.
Has God given you children? Parent them.
Has God given you a job? Work hard at it.
What community do you live in? How can you serve in your community?
Do you have a spouse? Love and care for your spouse.
What neighbors do you have? What needs do your neighbors have?
@@Sometimes you don't need to go looking for your calling, your calling will find you.@@ Animals will start showing up and you'll have a job to do that needs to be done. God will point you to a need and ask you to do it. God will give you a family and it's your job to be a husband/wife, father/mother, son/daughter.
God will give you a vocation.
Your calling at time will align with your passions and other times it won't, but it will be what God has given you to do in this moment. It will be the animals he's sent your way. It will be the person he's put in your life. It will be the needs of the people around you - to love, to care, to provide.
If you're trying to figure out what God is calling you to do, the best place to begin is by looking around and seeing where God has placed you. Where you are, what doors has God been opening and what animals has God been sending your way?