I swear to tell the TRUTH, the whole TRUTH, and nothing but the TRUTH, so help me God (John 14:6).
Friday, August 26, 2011
Valunteering: When Vocation and Calling Collide
Life is a game. Those who know how to play it well…generally do well. There are some who may not have figured out how the game goes, or might not be willing to learn from mistakes. They keep doing the same things but expecting different results. Regardless of what type of group you see yourself fitting in there are always those who feel “called” to do whatever it is they are doing or have done. These are individuals who either are led by God or have an internal gut wrenching passion for processes they want to see handled differently or problems they want to solve.
Daddy, as the world continues to move fast…as we attempt to try and keep up, let us not forget that you are the one who provides us with the desires of our heart. That is, you placed them there. Not the ones for fleeting things and instant satisfaction, but those which stretch and grow us for your glory and the affordance of your grace to those we come in contact with. We ask that you would reveal to us in your time what our “calling” is. May we use our past, present and whatever may come our way in the future as a vehicle to present you to those who have yet to be introduced [to you]. It is you who makes all things good and allows us to operate with a supernatural ability in such natural arenas. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
In talking to different folks there’s been a distinguishing between a vocation and a calling. Specifically I think the calling is something spiritual in nature and tied directly to ministry. It’s actually confusing so I decided to look for ways that the two could be combined. Indeed they are synonymous; perhaps the vocation being something that you do versus the calling being a manifestation of who you are.
My current field of study is information security. I need to try and keep computers safe from all of the bad guys out there who want to run up my credit card bills for no reason besides the fact that they like money.
I’m going to introduce several terms in hopes that you’ll see you are able to find Jesus in a little bit of everything when you take the time to think about it. So here goes an attempt to show you how I found Jesus in the midst of my desired profession; mesh of my calling and vocation.
Everyone knows about hackers. They’re these people who sit in dark rooms with pizza and sodas typing away on a keyboard to do bad things. I’m here to tell you that there are good hackers out there….Jesus is one of them. An Ethical Hacker is someone who hacks in order to help the person being hacked fix all of the “holes” in the hacked system. These holes are called vulnerabilities and the exploitation of them is called a threat.
Are you with me so far?
Quick Review:
Ethical Hacker-someone who breaks into a system (with permission) in order to highlight changes that need to be made (e.g. Jesus )
Vulnerabilities- holes that are left unpatched (not fixed) and allow an attacker easy entry into your system (e.g. Lust of the Flesh)
Threat- exploitation of a vulnerability which can lead to damage (e.g. Sex before marriage, STDs, inability to reproduce, etc)
I’d also like to introduce two other terms: Penetration testing and Denial of Service.
The penetration test (pen-test) is what the ethical hacker conducts in order to “prove” that there are vulnerabilities on the system. This is done using a variety of tools. Denial of service on the other hand is when an attacker takes steps to prevent you from accessing something that needs to be readily available to you.
If you haven’t caught on yet, YOU are the system.
By now you’re probably saying to yourself… ‘Ok liMitz, get to the point…” Well here we are.
I grew a lot this summer spiritually. I also was charged in challenging someone else (i.e. A coworker) to grow. In my field I have to protect things by testing them to make sure they can withstand attacks from the adversary (enemy). At times I may have to go in and fix the vulnerabilities in a system after performing a penetration test. If a threat occurs I must do what’s possible to mitigate or lessen the effect of it. The worse thing that could happen if I really need access to a specific system is for it not to be available because someone took it “offline”; denying me service.
Flip-it:
Jesus is an ethical hacker who performs penetration tests on our souls. He shows us where the vulnerabilities lie in the system that was made in his Father’s image. These holes are not because there’s something wrong with the image but because over time things happen and stuff changes. It is up to us to seek him out so that we know what needs to be done in order to patch the holes and not allow any exploitation of our vulnerabilities to take place. Less threats we face, the better. If we’re not careful the enemy may run a denial of service against us, denying us access to Jesus by blinding us with other things that distract us from him. This would be the equivalent of an attacker doing small things to get in my way of understanding the bigger picture. I waste my time on the distractions from seeing what’s really important.
On the way home from my job I was prompted by the Spirit- this is what God was using me to do. He was penetrating her being. I was only a tool, part of the pen-test if you will. He was speaking through me to show her holes she had in her life that he wanted and is willing to fix (Whether we want to be open or not we’re already open to so many things that has the ability to destroy us even if we didn’t give that “thing” permission to proceed into our lives). She has allowed some threats to occur and at some point will either choose to mitigate them or let them reign free.
If it’s for the betterment of your soul and the people around you it’s ethical…right?
Meet Jesus Christ: Certified Ethical Hacker.
Why?
The quick skinny:
Summer 2011 was about getting questions answered
I still have questions but a better grasp on my calling and vocation
It feels better (as opposed to being bitter) to know you’re not wasting your life or your time (especially on people)
What does this mean for me? #theReader
Be honest with yourself. At some point or another you’ve faced the facts; doesn’t mean you’ve accepted them. We all have people in our lives who are willing to be #100 (real). Just because someone doesn’t know you “well enough” to be in your circle, doesn’t mean they aren’t able to speak truth into your life. Remain open and you will be able to more quickly grasp the changes you need to make and why they need to be made. Don’t be like some folk and continue to get in the way of your own progress. This isn’t about self-actualization or trying to be the best that you can be…it’s about being who you were created to be and many of us are far away from where we should be; granted we aren’t where we used to be.
Your willingness to change will reflect your outlook on life
Stay open…sometimes the words we need to hear come from the most unlikely sources
Challenge
If you’re going to seek God, seek him. If you are looking for answers, ask him…but DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT ask, seek, or knock if you aren’t willing to accept the answers, be shown what you’re looking for or have the door opened. Why waste your time! Why waste your life? (You do have to start somewhere though)
