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Let’s briefly review the first three biblical principles to help us deal with a job we hate:
First, we must give up our “rights” to have a job we love and give God permission to keep us in that job if he has good purposes for us there.
Second, we must change employers and start working for Jesus, not for people. And that includes to stop working just for our own selfish reasons, such as money, advancement or power.
Third, we need an eternal perspective to remember that God will reward us for work well done if we do it as unto him. Even that hum-drum job, when done to please the Lord, will be recognized and rewarded by our heavenly Father. So, we need to work for God’s rewards, not for the recognition of people.
Then, step four in being content in a job you hate is to ask God what he has to teach you through this job. Have you gone to God and said, “Lord, I’m in a job I hate and I can’t get out, at least not right now. Why am I here? What are you trying to teach me or do through me in this job?”
You remember Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers and treated unfairly and cruelly by his captors, wrongly imprisoned for two years for doing the right thing. Then God delivered him from that prison and he became second in command to the Pharaoh.
Joseph said of his bad experience that his brothers meant harm to him when they sold him into slavery, but God meant it for good. Joseph allowed God to turn a terrible experience into a blessing. But please note that God was able to turn it into a blessing because Joseph was willing to let him.
God may have you in that job you hate because he has a blessing there for you, but because of your attitude, he can’t work that blessing for you yet. If Joseph had gotten bitter or remained angry or been rebellious, he would not have been able to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream and he would have just rotted in that prison.
I spent three years in a miserable job at one point, and for the first year I rebelled and complained and felt sorry for myself. With that attitude, God couldn’t do anything for me. When I finally realized that God had me there for a purpose and I wasn’t going to get out of it until I learned those lessons, then so many good things started to happen.
First, the difficult job became much easier to handle when I abandoned my self-focused attitude and asked God to work his purpose for me in that job I hated. Going to work wasn’t nearly as difficult after that.
Then, God began to use me in the lives of some of my coworkers, and I was able to be a witness for the Lord there, even to that difficult boss. And I gained some business experience, which eventually became very instrumental in my ability to go out on my own and become self-employed. And that allowed me to start this radio ministry many years ago. So, God had great purposes for me in that job which I couldn’t even imagine at the time, but now I can see how he was working good for me right in that job I hated.
Are you rotting in your miserable job because you haven’t given God permission to use it in your life for good? Believe me, there are miracles waiting for you in that job you hate, if you will in humility make up your mind to work for God and seek his reward, and look for the good that God wants to do for you and through you right where you are.
You’ll know contentment even in a miserable job if you have that attitude. It’s the attitude that Jesus had when he was willing to leave heaven and come to earth to die for us. Surely it was a job he didn’t relish, but he knew God would work redemption through it, and so he submitted to the good that God wanted to do by sending him to a job he did not enjoy.
Let this same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, Paul wrote, and if you have his mind, you will be content wherever you are, even in a job you hate, as long as God has you there for his purposes.
Notice I didn’t say “with” a job you hate, but “in” a job you hate. There’s a difference in being content “in” any situation versus content “with” any situation. Certainly there are some situations which are unfair, discriminatory, ungodly and just plain wrong. God doesn’t ask us to be content “with” those things which are wrong, and indeed he may direct us to confront or leave that kind of situation.
I believe there are times when we should actively pursue another job or another career, when the right thing to do is find a place to work which uses our abilities better or get more education so we can advance to better jobs, or simply find a better working environment.
Furthermore, it’s important for us to understand how God has gifted us, where our talents are and try to find a job that utilizes our abilities best. We know that God gives each of us different gifts and abilities. When we are in a job that uses those gifts, we are most content because that is the way God created us, and he wants us to use and develop our God-given gifts.
Have you ever had any counseling or analysis of the kind of job best suited for you? I have a dear friend who spent several years in a good job, with a good salary, but she hated every minute on the job. She thought it was her problem until she realized she was a people person in a job that was isolated, working with computers and numbers, not people. No wonder she was miserable.
When she finally saw this, she left that job and took another one that paid less but put her in touch with people. Immediately her attitude toward her job changed; she loved to go to work; she did an excellent job because she is so good with people; and her management was thrilled with her performance. Therefore, they gave her very positive feedback, which she had never received on the other job. Her whole situation improved immensely once she found a job that suited her personality and gifts.
Now, she had to take a pay cut at first, so if you’re working for money or power, it could keep you from finding the right job for yourself. Lots of people stay in jobs they hate simply because they’re afraid to give up the money or the benefits or the security of that job. What a miserable way to live. Maybe you need to trust God and take a step of faith and get out of that job which does not fit your talents or gifts. We are most content when we’re using the gifts God has given us.
But if you’re in a job you hate, however long you are going to be in that job, as a Christian, you should learn to be content in that job. The Apostle Paul said he learned to be content in any circumstance, and he was in some very bad situations. If he can learn contentment, so can we.
Let me tell you the story of a woman in Wisconsin who found herself in a job she hated. It was a manufacturing job, with repetitive and boring duties. She graduated from college with very good grades but found herself in this job that was beneath her.
Finally, after hearing my message on The Freedom of a Captive Mind, she decided to change her attitude about that job and to think of it as her mission field. She began reprogramming her mind with Scripture, memorizing verses on the job, and singing songs of praise in that factory job.
Her coworkers noticed the change in her. They began to ask her to sing her songs, and many times she was able to share the Scripture she was memorizing in conversations with different individuals. She started praying for her coworkers, and they began to come to her with their needs and ask her to pray for them.
She was able to lead one of her coworkers to know Jesus as her Savior and has touched the lives of all who work with her. Last I knew, she was still in that job that she hated, but it became her mission field. Yes, the work is boring, but it gives her time to memorize Scripture while working and that has been a wonderful healing process in her own life. She has found contentment in a job she hated because she has seen it through the eyes of eternity, and asked God to use her there.
Maybe God wants you to stay in that job, even though it’s not a good fit for you, because he has something far more important for you to do there. This woman is finding her satisfaction and contentment not in her job duties, but in seeing how God is using her in that difficult place.
Joseph and Daniel are two biblical examples of men who were in jobs they did not choose, but they were used mightily of God in those positions. God had a greater plan for them than just having a fulfilling job.
Don’t lose sight of the eternal importance of allowing God to use you as his witness on your job. If you can see how your presence in that company is being used of God, rejoice in that wonderful knowledge that you are fulfilling God’s mission for you in that place.
What are you doing on your job mission field? Griping and complaining all the time because you hate the job? What kind of testimony is that? You may be missing some wonderful opportunities to shine for Jesus because you’re so consumed with self-pity over being in a job you hate.
Friends, in this world there will always be unfair and unpleasant situations for us to endure. It’s a sin-filled world and we can’t expect a lot from it. But if every Christian in the marketplace saw his or her job as a mission field, we could impact our world for Jesus in ways never imagined.
I challenge you to ask God to change your attitude and make you content right where you are, so that you are a light shining in darkness in that corner of the world. If you don’t shine where you are, your opportunity will be lost forever.