Have you ever arrived at your workplace, and let out a sigh?
You stare at the clock all day, counting down the hours until the end of that work day.
And all throughout the week, you are only excited for the weekend.
And when the weekend comes, it goes by too quickly.
It feels like your entire existence is just waiting for that weekend, and life has been feeling very meaningless for a long time.
You are not alone.
Most of us have been in that same exact spot before of absolutely dreading our jobs, and sometimes we can wonder: Why did God put me in this position if He loves me so much?
Well, let’s see what the bible says about this. I am here to paint you a clearer picture of what His purpose is when it comes to your job.
1. Work was God’s design even before the fall of humanity.
Genesis 2:15 (New International Version)
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Having a job is not a sign that the world is fallen.
Even before Adam and Eve sinned, work was part of God’s original design.
Having work to do is something God wills for us to do as long as we exist.
And a wash of dread may have washed over you the moment you read that, because you’re probably thinking: Well, I hate my job!
That begs the question: Why did God give me a job I hate?
2. Will God ever give me happiness in my job?
Now, picture our God. Our holy, righteous, loving God.
Our Christ-sending God.
Does it sound like something He would do? Give you a job without giving you the ability to enjoy it?
Trust me, God wants you to enjoy your job.
Psalm 100:2 (New King James Version)
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (New International Version)
13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
The bible is very clear. Our jobs are gifts from God. He intends for us to find satisfaction in them.
However, you not feeling satisfaction in your job is often a sign that it is not your calling from God.
It usually means that your job is not the one God wants you to have.
Now, before you go “I’ll quit my job now!”, continue reading.
3. If my job is not my calling, does that mean I should quit?
1 Corinthians 7:20 (New International Version)
20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
In the bible, if a partner in a marriage converts to Christianity and realises she is unequally yoked, she is told to remain in her marriage and not seek a divorce.
The teaching is clear. God intends for us to remain in our current circumstances.
If you haven’t found your calling yet, God is not saying you should quit your job until you’ve found it.
God is saying that He wants you to stay in that job while you seek Him about your calling.
And I want to remind you gently, callings from God don’t always necessarily have to be grand or flashy.
Sometimes, God may be calling you to milk cows. It seems menial, but if that is what He wills for you to do, will You obey?
Or will you insist on having your way?
Spurgeon has said that when you are uncertain of His will, you should hesitate, but once you are certain, rush into it, because therein lies your haven.
But what happens if you decide that you don’t want to work ever again?
4. If you will not work, God has decreed that you shall not eat.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 (New International Version)
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
1 Timothy 5:8 (New International Version)
8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Proverbs 24:33-34 (New International Version)
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
If you decide that you don’t want to work because it pains you to, you will soon find that being homeless is even more painful.
But then one might say: What if I have a condition that prevents me from working?
5. That excludes people who cannot work.
Psalm 103:14 (New International Version)
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
There are some people out there who have very severe mental illnesses, or conditions that prevent their bodies from working normally.
For those people, God shows grace because He knows they are dust, He knows they are weak.
But if you can’t have a formal job, you can still serve in other ways. We all serve.
Acts 9:39 (New International Version)
39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
In the verse above, Dorcas is a godly woman who served by making clothes.
If you’re too weak to work, or retired, there are still ways where you can serve others.
That may look like taking up knitting or other handicrafts in your spare time to give handmade gifts to the people around you.
But if you can work, why work?
6. Our work can be testimonies to God.
In the book of Genesis, we are introduced to Joseph.
God gave him dreams to tell him that he would be sending a famine to Egypt.
Joseph was a good worker, and put in charge of Pharaoh’s goods, and when the famine came, he took care of the world with the grain he stocked up in the years of plenty.
Sometimes the only “bible” the unsaved can read is your life.
In other parts of the bible, we see characters who took their jobs seriously, and used them to honour God.
Daniel 6:4-5 (New International Version)
4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
When I read the verses above, I was filled with awe. Isn’t that so great?
Daniel being a good worker gave God glory, and so can you give God glory through your job!
Colossians 3:23-24 (New International Version)
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
7. God gave you work so that you would qualify for rewards.
1 Corinthians 3:8 (New International Version)
8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
I used to wonder: God, you can do all the work and still get glory. Why include us?
Then I realised, God gave us work so that we would be qualified to receive rewards.
Because a reward is only rewarding when you’ve put in the hard work.
One day, we will all stand before Christ and give an account of how we used the talents He gave us.
And each one will reap what they sow.
If we’ve been faithful with our jobs, we will be rewarded. If not, there will be a loss of rewards, but the Christian himself will be saved because our salvation depends on the work of Christ, not us.
8. How do I find my calling if this job is not what God ultimately wants for me to have?
Philippians 2:13 (New International Version)
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
If you don’t know what your calling is yet, look within.
What desires do you have?
Not all desires come from the evil of your heart, some desires are holy and put there by God.
To know if a holy desire was put there by God, notice if it is:
Strong?
Never goes away?
Has a loving, good reason behind it?
Some desires are put there within you, and it might reveal what God’s calling for your life is.
They will be aligned with scripture, something that is within your abilities to do, something that gives you peace and something that interests you deeply.
If you’re uncertain, ask God now what your calling is, and when you’re ready, He will answer you.
And when He answers you, obey Him and you will gain true happiness for your soul.
Resources Consulted:
- Christianity and Work: How to Honour God in Your Job, BibleFix
- Will God Call Me to a Career I Don’t Enjoy, Desiring God.
- I Feel Trapped In My Job, Desiring God.
- How Can I Be Sure of My Calling? Ask Dr. Stanley.
P.S. My personal experience
I was a fool as a kid, and joined a cult. I was a member for about a decade, and they taught salvation by works. I was trained to always find flaws in myself, and to rebuke every thought I had. I aspired to live up to their impossible standards, and blamed myself for everything. Those habits eventually led me to develop Psychotic Depression a decade later, which God ultimately used to free me from the cult and bring me back to grace.
But my suffering didn’t end when I stopped being a cult member. Since my diagnosis, I realised over time with repeated attempts to re-enter the workforce that I am unable to work. I’ve tried every possible way to try and go back to work, but none of it worked. And it took many reminders from God about my infirmity that I didn’t have to blame myself for being sick, even if I had a father who berated me for not working by calling me lazy. God has been very gracious to me, and over time, I knew that while I was unable to work, I still had a very strong desire to find a source of income so that I could give back to my family who promised to take care of me.
I prayed to God to give me that source of income, and this is year 9 and He still hasn’t answered that prayer. I’ve tried to give up so many times, and shed so many tears, but I know that this desire is from God, and He did not put it within my heart without one day intending to say Yes to it. I am waiting patiently for my breakthrough.
But during those 9 years, I often came across people who complained about their jobs to me. They told me how much they hated their colleagues or their bosses. They abhorred and blamed capitalism for forcing them to have jobs, and normally I take it well, but other times those words are like slaps to my face.
I wish I had a job. I wish I was able to fork out money for that grocery trip and be able to say that I put food on the table. I wish I could complain about my colleagues stealing my food from the pantry fridge, and I wish I could say I hate having a job. It seems like what comes so easily for others is such an incredible difficulty for me to attain. I’ve cried out to God so many times, and endured so much pain for this desire to be a financial supporter of my struggling family, and I know one day I will have that gainful job.
But I won’t complain about it. Because I know that a job might seem like a trifle, an annoyance to most people, but to me it would’ve been a prize at the end of a race. To be able to say you provide for your family, and take care to give them a safe, comfortable life that they don’t have to worry about their future – isn’t that such a wonderful thing? It’s good to be grateful for our jobs, and praise God that He allowed us to afford nice things, and put food and drink on our family’s table.
Because ultimately, the truth is, a job is a gift from God, not a burden.
I hope this motivates you to be grateful for your job.
Romans 11:29 (New International Version)
Leave a Reply