God at Work Quotes

“Luther says that vocations are a “mask from God. That is, God hides Himself in the workplace, the family, the Church, and the seemingly secular society”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“The priesthood of all believers” did not make everyone into church workers; rather, it turned every kind of work into a sacred calling.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“Realizing that one does not have to worry about what will happen, that the future is in God's hands, is liberating.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“Luther goes so far as to say that vocation is a mask of God. That is, God hides Himself in the workplace, the family, the Church, and the seemingly secular society. To speak of God being hidden is a way of describing His presence, as when a child hiding in the room is there, just not seen. To realize that the mundane activities that take up most of our lives—going to work, taking the kids to soccer practice, picking up a few things at the store, going to church—are hiding-places for God can be a revelation in itself. Most people seek God in mystical experiences, spectacular miracles, and extraordinary acts they have to do. To find Him in vocation brings Him, literally, down to earth, makes us see how close He really is to us, and transfigures everyday life.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“When God blesses us, He almost always does it through other people.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“According to the Reformers, each Christian has multiple vocations. We have callings in our work. We have callings in our families. We have callings as citizens in the larger society. And we have callings in the Church.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“The Reformation may have resulted in a “Protestant work ethic,” but this was not due to the pressure to prove one’s election by worldly success, as certain social scientists ludicrously maintain. Rather, the work ethic emerged out of an understanding of the meaning of work and the satisfaction and fulfillment that come from ordinary human labor when seen through the light of the doctrine of vocation.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“Rather, the doctrine of vocation encourages attention to each individual’s uniqueness, talents, and personality. These are valued as gifts of God, who creates and equips each person in a different way for the calling He has in mind for that person’s life. The doctrine of vocation undermines conformity, recognizes the unique value of every person, and celebrates human differences; but it sets these individuals into a community with other individuals, avoiding the privatizing, self-centered narcissism of secular individualism.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“the Christian life is to be lived in vocation, in the seemingly ordinary walks of life that take up nearly all of the hours of our day. The Christian life is to be lived out in our family, our work, our community, and our church. Such things seem mundane, but this is because of our blindness. Actually, God is present in them—and in us—in a mighty, though hidden, way.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“It is still God who is responsible for giving us our daily bread. Though He could give it to us directly, by a miraculous provision, as He once did for the children of Israel when He fed them daily with manna, God has chosen to work through human beings, who, in their different capacities and according to their different talents, serve each other. This is the doctrine of vocation. p.14”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“The heart of a man plans his way,” says Solomon, “but the LORD establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). We are to plan in the here and now, but we can do so in the confidence that the Lord is acting in our lives and in our circumstances, calling us to His purpose.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“more than that, the doctrine of vocation amounts to a comprehensive doctrine of the Christian life, having to do with faith and sanctification, grace and good works. It is a key to Christian ethics. It shows how Christians can influence their culture. It transfigures ordinary, everyday life with the presence of God.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“Though personal and unique for each person (“take up his cross”), the Way of the Cross means that our spiritual life does not consist solely of victories, miracles, and success stories.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“He is not actually far from each one of us, for ‘in him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:25, 27-28).”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

“This book is an exposition of the doctrine of vocation and an attempt to apply that doctrine in a practical way to life in the twenty-first century. First, it will explore the nature of voca- tion—what is the purpose of vocation, how to find one’s vocation, how God calls us to different tasks and how He is present in what we do in our everyday lives. Then the book will address specific vocations and specific problems common to them all. According to the Reformers, each Christian has multiple vocations. We have callings in our work. We have callings in our families. We have callings as citizens in the larger society. And we have callings in the Church.”
― Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life