My first post is about what "power" we have in determining what we do for a living. In so many areas of life, I have found I am powerfully powerless, and none has been more evident than this area. About six months ago, my wife and I began debating when I should begin to look for a new job.
The bigger question was: What exactly do I want to do now that I have two years of experience outside of college under my belt? I could work for a marketing agency, start something on my own, work directly for a company doing marketing, go back into the golf business or do something completely different. I threw around a hundred ideas before coming to the conclusion that I should stay at the nonprofit I was at. Many clues came that I should find something, but I waited, waited and waited. Hah, that ended up failing a few days ago. I do that alot.
As I sit here and apply for job after job after job, talking to close friends and family, I began to question what kind of power I have to get a "dream job". Is there one? Could it be that I'll never really find joy completely in my career? I wasn't always happy where I was at, but I enjoyed the people, the experience and the money and time it gave me to spend with my wife.
If we have power in deciding our next career path, why am I stuck here? Why would it be that my brother-in-law was convinced that his path was to teach, only to be searching for a teaching job for well over a year now? Why would so many college friends get specific degrees but go down a totally different career path? Why? Theories also say that "if you work hard, give it your best, you'll be fine", "You can only depend on yourself, cover your....".
Those theories are totally false. I did all of those, yet I am here searching full-time for a job. My theory is that we are perfectly powerless in our career. Sure, try as hard as you can, do everything you are told, be the best you can be, but if it's not supposed to be, it won't.
Truth is: We exist not for ourselves, but for God. We are called to worship Him in every area of our life, including our career. If you work so hard that you have an ego, think again. A man with an ego has a tougher time worshipping the one who gave him that job, those skills.
I can only hope that my job search worships Him. It's probably the single biggest test of faith I've faced. Buy a house, get laid off a few months later. It was never MY plan, but I know it is HIS. Instead of relying on myself to find my next opportunity, I pray that God will provide and give me clarity in knowing what that opportunity is.
I can be bitter, angry, upset, whatever. But there's really no point. God has me in this place for a reason, so I'd effectively be bitter toward Him.
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