What a great question! I think this is very appropriate for all of us to consider, which leads to other questions. Why are we here? What is our purpose in life? What makes us special?
On a personal note, during my twenty-plus years on active duty, my wife and I recognized that each time I was up for reassignment, there was what we called “an angel in uniform” who watched over the process. God needed us to be His representatives and do His work at just the right places at just the right times, as we were stationed around the country and overseas.
Our active duty journey ended at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, the home of the US Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School, where I have served since 2004. It was obvious to us that God had a purpose and a plan for our lives. He gave us great people to serve with. He provided for our needs through promotions and benefits. God used every trial and success that I had to prepare me for future service elsewhere. In my current position as a Department of the Army civilian, I know without a doubt that I am serving exactly where God wants me to be.
I am confident God will do the same as you trust Him to lead you in your own career.
Finding our purpose
Ben Witherington, in Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor wrote, “One thing is clear: when we find our calling, we are unlikely to find it boring, though it may be onerous in various ways. It is also unlikely that we will hate what we are called to do, though there may be days or even longer periods when difficulties or even dangers make us wish very strongly that we were called to something else”
Dr. Michael Wittmer, one of my seminary professors, offers us a wise and humorous insight from his book, Becoming Worldly Saints:
If God has called you to preach, go to seminary and become the best preacher you can be. If God has called you to be a plumber, start as an apprentice and run all your pipes downhill. Unless it’s an emergency, don’t try to preach if God has only gifted you to be a plumber. And don’t try plumbing if God has only gifted you to preach, because that may create an emergency!
The narratives in the Old Testament provide us with many examples of those who found their purpose as God called, prepared, and enabled them to do the work He created them to do: Joseph, Moses, Nehemiah, and others. (This connection between God’s presence and human work I refer to as Immanuel labor.)
God prepared David to defeat Goliath while he worked as a shepherd by giving him courage and skill in protecting sheep. God’s deliverance from lions and bears in the past would deliver him from this arrogant giant (1 Sam. 17:33-37). (See also Ps. 78:70-72.) Paul’s primary motivation was to preach the gospel among the Gentiles (1 Cor. 9:16; Gal. 1:15-16). He was dedicated to finish the race laid out before him, completing the work the Lord had called him to do (Acts 20:24). By God’s grace, these men discovered their true purposes as they worked with a passion for what they did, fulfilled their missions, and found their calling in their professions.
Regarding God’s design, Mattson and Miller advise in Finding a Job You Can Love,
The contents of your personal history are not random or accidental. Your unique personality, character, and talents have done much to shape the important events in your life. There is a clear, strong connection between who you are and what you have done … You may or may not be pleased with the way you carried out your design, but at least be pleased that you are God’s handiwork (Eph. 2:10). You were designed with specific gifts and a motivation to use those gifts.
Placher, in his book, Callings: Twenty Centuries of Christian Wisdom on Vocation asks us to consider this: “If the God who made us has figured out something we are supposed to do, however—something that fits how we were made, so that doing it will enable us to glorify God, serve others, and be most richly ourselves—then life stops seeming so empty; my story has meaning as part of a larger story ultimately shaped by God.”
Every so often, it still amazes me when I think that I could have easily missed God’s path for me from math to the ministry and to the military. I could not have planned it this way.
Purpose can lead to job satisfaction
Let me come back to Joseph, as I and many other writers in the faith and work movement have discovered how he is such a great illustration of how our faith in God can impact the workplace.
Like many of us, Joseph also found himself in places that he did not plan to go. However, God had it planned all along. In Gen. 45:7-8, Joseph concludes that despite what his brothers did to him, it is not man who causes things to happen to us but God. He alone is sovereign.
In The Accidental Executive, Al Erisman asks us,
How did Joseph achieve career satisfaction and a true sense of calling? … He didn’t get to do a skills inventory, choose his university, and then interview for a variety of positions that would provide the best outcome. He worked for his father, worked as a slave, worked in prison, and finally was appointed to his position as CEO of the Egyptian International Food Company by Pharaoh, without any real opportunity to make a decision.
This story illustrates the message I have been alluding to throughout this book. God is in control. In His covenant love and faithfulness, God wisely places men and women where they need to be at the right place and time for His glory. Understanding this should take our anxiety about the whole process of “how to find our calling” away and replace it with His peace.
I can also relate to what the apostle Paul said in Gal. 2:7-8. He reported that the church leaders in Jerusalem recognized that God had entrusted Paul with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. He mentions that God was clearly at work through Peter’s ministry to the Jews and was also at work through Paul’s ministry. This ties in with Paul’s sense of calling and also fits in with job satisfaction. Paul knew that he was entrusted by God with the message of life found only in Jesus Christ and that God worked through him. I, too, sense quite often that I have been put in a position of trust where God works through me. This not only confirms that I have been called to work here at this time, but it gives me great satisfaction as well.
As we close this section, here are a few more verses that may be helpful.
In 1 Tim. 4:14-15, Paul tells Timothy not to neglect his spiritual gift. He strongly encourages him to put it into practice and to make progress in his ministry that is evident to all. In Col. 4:17, Paul gives some final greetings. Paul exhorted Archippus to complete the work God had called him to do. Was it evangelism, teaching, leading, or giving? We are not sure what his gift was. Paul knew. So did Archippus. Near the end of his life, Paul stated that he had fought the good fight. He had finished the race. He faithfully accomplished what God in Christ had called him to do (2 Tim. 4:7).
Lastly, Ps. 128:2 mentions the blessings of those who fear the Lord and who walk in His ways. The writer states, “You will eat the fruit of your labor.” Satisfaction seems to be intended as a divine by-product of long, dedicated efforts on the job. I know that it has been for me.
I trust that these concepts will impact your life and that you will experience what Placher described, that your “story has meaning as part of a larger story ultimately shaped by God.”
This article contains excerpts from chapter 10 of my book, Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession,
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Russ Gehrlein
Featured Image by Orna from Pixabay
