Three Lies & A Heart Clinging to Truth
This is the season of life in which I find myself: Graduated from college, not yet employed, home.
If I'm not careful, I begin to believe a few lies about my current state.
Lie #1 Being a careerless college graduate=failure. "I should have a job by now." "Maybe I'm not trying hard enough." "Maybe other people think I'm not trying hard enough." "What if other people think I'm lazy because I don't have a job?"
While any of the thoughts along this line seem perfectly logical, and some people may even think they produce motivation to succeed, they can be very dangerous lies. This thought process means that I equate having a job with success. God tells me differently. While it's not okay to use this as an excuse to be an unproductive member of society, it's also not okay for me to define "success" when God has already done so.
What it comes down to is this: No matter how much I pray about finding a job, no matter how many jobs I apply for, at the center of it all, I want God's will. And if it's not God's will for me to be in a job at the moment, then I'm not going to be...because I'm seeking Him.
Does it make sense to me that God would not bless me with a job when I've sought His will in selecting a major, obtaining a degree, and I desperately want to glorify Him in a workplace setting? Not at all. But I'm finite and He is infinite. His will rarely makes "sense" to me. Until, of course, He reveals pieces of His will to me. So I will patiently await His will for a job.
Lie #2 If I get a job that is not related to my degree, then I have, in a sense, failed.
This is a tough one too. I want to use my degree. I prayed about my major, freaked out about whether or not it was God's will, prayed some more, allowed God to confirm His will, and truly enjoyed getting an education in journalism. I love learning about print journalism and public relations, I love using the skills that I've acquired to glorify God. So...taking a job doing anything else would seem like a semi-fail. (Not necessarily an epic fail, but en route to such a fail.)
Yet the truth of the matter, again, is this: I desire God's will for my life. So if His plan involves a job that doesn't necessarily require a degree in journalism, I will still trust Him.
Lie #3 Being embarrassed or ashamed is a correct response to my current state of unemployment.
I think this is one that actually applies to a lot of areas of life. Instead of being content with where God has me, joyfully being obedient in the everyday aspects of life and patiently awaiting God's future, "bigger" plans for my life, I feel as if I should be upset with myself for not having found a job. Sometimes I allow myself to think that if I don't seem discouraged and disappointed with my unemployment status, people will think I don't care about not "growing up" and getting a job. But this is so backwards! Again, I don't wish to become comfortable with unemployment and remain in this season outside of God's will. Goodness, no! But I don't want to be miserable or act miserable about this season of my life. In fact, my response should be the exact opposite. I want to be content. I want to be joyful. And I don't want to feel as if it's wrong to be content or joyful about unemployment.
I can see God at work in so many areas of my life. He is doing crazy wonderful things at my church, and I've realized that plopping me back at home, in the middle of a small town, with no career, is probably the most effective way He could have shown me home is where He wants me. That Ten Mile is where He wants me serving. Why would I think that He doesn't know exactly what He's doing with the career department of my life?
My God is mindful of me. I want to rest in that. I want to radiate contentment, because I'm confident in my God.
If I'm not careful, I begin to believe a few lies about my current state.
Lie #1 Being a careerless college graduate=failure. "I should have a job by now." "Maybe I'm not trying hard enough." "Maybe other people think I'm not trying hard enough." "What if other people think I'm lazy because I don't have a job?"
While any of the thoughts along this line seem perfectly logical, and some people may even think they produce motivation to succeed, they can be very dangerous lies. This thought process means that I equate having a job with success. God tells me differently. While it's not okay to use this as an excuse to be an unproductive member of society, it's also not okay for me to define "success" when God has already done so.
What it comes down to is this: No matter how much I pray about finding a job, no matter how many jobs I apply for, at the center of it all, I want God's will. And if it's not God's will for me to be in a job at the moment, then I'm not going to be...because I'm seeking Him.
Does it make sense to me that God would not bless me with a job when I've sought His will in selecting a major, obtaining a degree, and I desperately want to glorify Him in a workplace setting? Not at all. But I'm finite and He is infinite. His will rarely makes "sense" to me. Until, of course, He reveals pieces of His will to me. So I will patiently await His will for a job.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3: 5-6
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14
Lie #2 If I get a job that is not related to my degree, then I have, in a sense, failed.
This is a tough one too. I want to use my degree. I prayed about my major, freaked out about whether or not it was God's will, prayed some more, allowed God to confirm His will, and truly enjoyed getting an education in journalism. I love learning about print journalism and public relations, I love using the skills that I've acquired to glorify God. So...taking a job doing anything else would seem like a semi-fail. (Not necessarily an epic fail, but en route to such a fail.)
Yet the truth of the matter, again, is this: I desire God's will for my life. So if His plan involves a job that doesn't necessarily require a degree in journalism, I will still trust Him.
"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Isaiah 55:8-9
Lie #3 Being embarrassed or ashamed is a correct response to my current state of unemployment.
I think this is one that actually applies to a lot of areas of life. Instead of being content with where God has me, joyfully being obedient in the everyday aspects of life and patiently awaiting God's future, "bigger" plans for my life, I feel as if I should be upset with myself for not having found a job. Sometimes I allow myself to think that if I don't seem discouraged and disappointed with my unemployment status, people will think I don't care about not "growing up" and getting a job. But this is so backwards! Again, I don't wish to become comfortable with unemployment and remain in this season outside of God's will. Goodness, no! But I don't want to be miserable or act miserable about this season of my life. In fact, my response should be the exact opposite. I want to be content. I want to be joyful. And I don't want to feel as if it's wrong to be content or joyful about unemployment.
I can see God at work in so many areas of my life. He is doing crazy wonderful things at my church, and I've realized that plopping me back at home, in the middle of a small town, with no career, is probably the most effective way He could have shown me home is where He wants me. That Ten Mile is where He wants me serving. Why would I think that He doesn't know exactly what He's doing with the career department of my life?
My God is mindful of me. I want to rest in that. I want to radiate contentment, because I'm confident in my God.
"Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: He is their help and their shield. The Lord hath been mindful of us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron."
Psalm 115: 12-13
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