Three truths to remember when work gets tough

There must have been something in that California air – a sense of possibility and attainable happiness – because my passion for knowing that the people I care about are content with the direction of their lives prompted me to discuss jobs, calling, and career in every conversation I had with friends and family last week.

Maybe I just need to connect with people on a deeper level and what we do with our lives is one of the quickest ways to get to the crux of who someone is.

While this sounds insincere or cliché to say, I feel very strongly that my life’s purpose is to help other people and, as such, I love doing it.  I feel like if I don’t use my analytical gifting for other’s benefit, grow and hone my ability to sense when my comments resonate, and learn to understand people so that I can help them better understand themselves so that they feel empowered to create action that changes their lives, I will be blatantly disobeying for what God explicitly made me.

I think this most clearly shows itself in the destructive behavior that happens when I was not courageous. In my youth and early 20’s, rather than analyze others, I analyzed myself. This led to be being completely self-involved and ashamed – my analysis revealed all of my flaws with no obvious solutions – which made it nearly impossible for me see others as they really were, let alone love them properly.

I was so focused on hiding my flaws that I wasn’t even interested in understanding others. My priority was managing my image and I was obsessed with worrying about what other people thought of me.

I believe this is one example of what can happens when we don’t understand our gifts.

Luckily, I'm here to remind you that God has blessed each one of us with amazing skills and natural abilities. You were made with a purpose! You were designed to do something meaningful for the kingdom and I want to help you get there.

On that note, let’s dive into the point of this post, shall we?

One-by-one, I asked friends questions about their jobs and careers. For those that weren’t in a great spot, we spent time discussing doubts and concerns. My brain immediately started processing their words, looking for patterns and truths they might not see, and mirrored back to them their perceived reality. From there, we crafted tangible next steps, topics to unpack, and heart issues to take to the Lord.

After having these different conversations over the course of a few days, it became clear to me that there are certain themes that were present in nearly every conversation. As a follow up to last month's THREE TRUTHS ABOUT REST AND TAKING TIME OFF, I will continue the Three Truths series by expounding on three truths we need to keep in mind when work get tough.

Truth #1: You are not in this alone.

One of the first things I notice when discussing work frustrations with friends is that the speaker often has no idea where God is. Either they have become disillusioned by increasing struggles and lost sight of Him or they never considered it His place to be involved in their career in the first place.

In the first scenario, you are likely miserable and feeling purposeless. You might not even know exactly how you got to where you are. You may not have known this current job would be as bad as it really is. Or you felt like you had no choice – either the decision was out of your hands or you just really needed a job and took the first one that presented itself.

However, no matter what has led you to your current situation, God has – at no point – forgotten you! He knows exactly where you are. He hears the frustrations and disappointments in your heart. And guess what? He wants your honesty. He can handle it! The only person that is hurt by you trying not to be mad at Him is you! Don’t stuff that down. If you feel it, get it out of you and tell Him. It is only through relational honesty that you can hear Him clearly and create room for Him to pave a way for change.

I will be eternally grateful for the way my career started despite the frustrations I felt and questions I asked in the midst of the experience. You see, I spent nearly four years working at a firm I thought I’d be at for a year or two max. During my time there, I applied to other jobs only to get a first round interview and then nothing or no reply at all. It was so disheartening. I knew I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I also began to question this aim, presence, and goodness as well.

The best thing that ever happened to me was receiving the revelation that this time was preparation for things to come. As such, I couldn’t rush through it because I needed the preparation! I needed the slower pace to learn that you don’t always have to rush. I needed the anonymity to understand that my company and job title do not define me. I needed the personalities I worked with to build up my ability to work productively with people that are unlike me. And I needed the latter two years to realize what it feels and looks like to take something you didn’t necessarily want and allow it to become something valuable and life-giving.

Truth #2: God has a plan.

Despite being at peace with the fact that I was preparing for something and having a good hunch for what it was, I felt tentative about when or how God would indicate it was time to act.

How would I know it’s the right time? I worried. What if I miss it??

Based on my conversations, these are common concerns. If you are feeling similarly, you are not alone!

Also, fear and worry are not of God.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”  - Matthew 6:25-27, emphasis added

I don’t think it gets any clearer than that. Jesus says not to worry. If God’s got the birds, then He’s certainly has a plan to take care of you, His precious child.

You matter. Your life matters. If it didn’t, He wouldn’t have created you. I cannot think of a single thing in this world that God made that doesn’t serve a purpose. It is not in His nature.

I am 100% sure that whatever you’re going through is a part of a larger narrative. If you’re frustrated by the lack of transparency, I want to offer condolence in the knowledge that God asks us to trust Him and follow His direction out of love for us.

For me, I don’t know if I could have handled knowing the past couple of years of professional, financial, and relational journeying ahead of time. I think I knew as much as I needed at the time in order to act and my relationship with Him has grown exponentially as we’ve experienced all of this life together.

Truth #3: You are not late.

I think a common lie I used to struggle with is that I’m “late”. There is actually reasonable evidence to that point: I took a year off after college and later got into consulting as an experienced hire. I have coworkers that are younger than me and more senior than I am as well as colleagues my age that are two levels above me (the equivalent of five years!).

However, I know I’m not late. As I said earlier. I had a long preparatory season back in Jersey that has allowed me to thrive here in the city. Had I been “on time” I would have been completely ill-prepared for what this job requires of me – both in terms of industry and managerial experience as well as interpersonal skills.

God’s timing is perfect.

Similarly a good friend of mine spent twelve years in an industry that he excelled in. However, within the past two years he has come to realize that he wants to do something different and is unsure how to go about it.

He feels like he has to start over again at the bottom and compete with recent college grads for an entry-level position. And yet I am confident that God will redeem those years.

Just because my friend is switching careers does not mean that his former life is null and worthless.

I would challenge each of you to see what is beneath the surface of your experiences, as I mentioned earlier. What did you learn about yourself and others? What transferable skills did you master in your previous roles?

There is a wealth of information in the years of life you have lived – in school, with friends, in your former jobs. Consider the pros and cons of each experience and look for common themes.

Regardless of where you’ve been, it’s never too late to take control of the life you’ve been given and pursue it with God courageously. No time is wasted unless you convince yourself it is. And, I’ll say it again, the only person this really hurts is you.

Don’t let the enemy convince you that you are late, purposeless, or alone. God has such incredible richness for your life. I believe it with my whole heart.