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Friday, Jan 19 - Surrendering Your Career
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DEVOTIONAL: “SURRENDERING YOUR CAREER”
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“What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 2:22-25)
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Job. Work. Career. If you’re lucky, it’s a Calling. If not, you might identify with Solomon when he called labor “grief and pain.” Sometimes, it can take everything you have to get out of bed to go to work to “bring home the bacon” (or stay home to make the bacon that was already brought home!). At times, work can seem like a four-letter word you would rather avoid.
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But that’s not what God has to say about it. Look at the latter portion of the verses above. Even in your toil and anxiety, God has blessings for you from the fruits of your labor (to eat and drink) and satisfaction in a job done well. These are good things from a good God.
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Maybe you aren’t in a career yet, or maybe you are looking for work right now. But maybe you are in a job situation where you are asking “Why?” Why does God have you at this job at this time and in this place? It can be tough when you know you’re where God wants you, but it’s not where you want to be. It can be hard!
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This is where the theme of these 21 Days steps into the picture: Surrender. Read that word again slowly… Surrender.
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Surrender daily. Surrender your plans. Surrender your ego, your fears, your doubt… all of it. Then do it again the next day. Seek God first. Seek His will and let your will conform to His. It isn’t easy, but will get easier with practice. Talk to Him over breakfast or during your commute. Remind yourself…
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“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)
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He has a reason for you being where you are right now. He knows your struggles, hurts, and anxieties. He also knows you are not alone. He gave His only Son, Jesus, for you, and the Holy Spirit to you because He loves you. He wants to work in you and through you.
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“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
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This is the truth about your work and career. He created it for you, and He created you for it as well. You are not where you are by accident. He wants you here for His purposes. So ask Him what they are and get to work!
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Heavenly Father, thank you for my job. Help me to find purpose in it and worship you through it. Amen.
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And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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