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PROGRAM D-8305
What is God trying to teach you through your job? Recently a friend shared with me that God is teaching her how to get along with all kinds of people, even those with whom she has some strong disagreements. These are coworkers who really need to know Jesus, coming from different religious backgrounds and very different beliefs. She said that through the years she was not—in her words—“very nice to my unbelieving coworkers.” Their discussions would often end with not-so-pleasant words of condemnation. She said, “I have not been quiet about it when I think they’re wrong.” When a new coworker joined their company who was very lovely, bright, and energetic, she liked her a lot, and then she discovered that she was in an unbiblical lifestyle. She said, “I think the Lord has given me another chance here.”
She is learning on her job how to love the “lost sheep”—people who don’t know Jesus—and how to communicate with them in loving ways rather than in harsh and condemning ways. This is a lesson we all need, isn’t it? But you can never learn that lesson if you never interact with unbelievers. In most situations, your job puts you right in the middle of many people who do not share your faith, do not know Jesus—even people who may think your commitment to Christ is fanatical! How do you build friends and share the love of Jesus with people like that? You can learn this truly valuable skill—that Christ-like attitude—right there on your job.
Can you see how God is teaching you many valuable lessons through your job? You learn critical lessons about relationships—cooperation, fairness, flexibility, humility, patience—all fruits of God’s Spirit that help you to shine as a light in a dark place. You learn to forgive people who may never ask you to forgive them—who don’t even recognize or care that they have hurt you. You learn to persevere and hang in there even when you think you can’t hang in any longer.
We read in James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” This is the path all Christ-followers are on—growing mature and complete—and perseverance helps us get there. Maybe your job is very frustrating right now and you’re thinking of leaving. Could it be that you don’t need a different job but rather a different attitude toward the job you have?
You can grow spiritually right there where you work! Sometimes we think that our spiritual growth only comes through Bible studies, church attendance, and prayer—and those things are certainly important in our lives! But you can grow much faster and in so many diverse ways if you go to your job each day and see it not only as a mission field, but as a classroom. Don’t miss what God wants to teach you through your job!