While in Northern Ireland, God continued to teach me on a theme that I had been mentally struggling with for a while. The idea is that there is no such thing as dead end job if you are right where God wants you to be. Many Christians tend to have the attitude that "I'm just a ( occupation here)." It's like they thought they were destined to do something great and have become stuck in a lifeless profession. It can be easy to dream how life would only be better if we were doing something else. If only I were the boss, if only I worked in a creative field, if only I pioneered the latest scientific break through, if only I were a world leader, if only I threw the wining touchdown in the Super Bowl, if only I were a missionary or a pastor – then my life would mean something.
What a terrible way to live!
Why did God put us on this planet if we end up living less than stellar lives doing things that we feel makes no long-term difference? Is this some kind of cruel joke?
Then I came upon Heaven Is a Place on Earth by Michael Wittmer, a book that has challenged my worldview. Wittmer’s book helped me see that I need a paradigm shift.
Wittmer wrote, “Convinced that nothing else mattered in life but leading other people to Christ, I struggled to make sense of a world of mortgages, home maintenance and small talk.” The author used to feel this way and so did I until I read Wittmer’s journey to discover God’s favor in the little things, the basic activities of life on this planet.
I used to think that labor was a consequence of sin. But now, I see that God has always designed us to work. I should never feel guilty for working a regular job. There is nothing more sacred about a televangelist than a housewife. If done to honor God, both calls are equally valid and important in God’s eyes.
If your job seems like something less than your destiny, maybe it is. We are all on a journey. And everyone has necessary detours along the way. Without these slight delays, we would never have enough knowledge, skill or personal refinement to reach our destiny.
Wittmer wrote, “Then seeking first the kingdom of God will not mean that we ignore daily matters so we focus exclusively upon him, but it will mean that in every area of life we passionately strive to honor God…Rather than think that God’s primacy means that nothing else matters, it is precisely because God is number one that everything else does matter…Where does your job fit into this picture? How does what you do enable you or others to exercise dominion over the earth, cultivating its resources for the profit of both humanity and the earth itself.”
