I’ve heard that more people die at 9am on Monday morning than any other time…because that’s when they have to head back to work. How do you feel about your job? We all enjoy work, maybe not your job, but we love some type of work. Whether you enjoy gardening, or cooking, or working on your car there is a real sense of enjoyment that comes from work. That’s one of the reasons why we feel sorry for people in nursing homes-their physical activity is limited.
Work isn’t the problem, for most of us it’s the job that’s the problem.
What if there was a way to instill passion into your job, the job you have right now? What if it was possible to find purpose in the midst of cubicles and spreadsheets? I think it is.
The problem for most of us is that we go to our job looking to find fulfillment instead of bringing fulfillment to our jobs. What if your job was never meant to give you a sense of fulfillment? We take our question of value, meaning, and worth to corporate America and say please help me feel valuable, please give me a sense of self-worth, please let me know I’m important and matter.
Your meaning can never be found in your work. It can only be found in a growing relationship with God.
We certainly get a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction out of a job well done, but filling the hole in our heart is something that work can never do. Those of you who have accomplished some great things at your job know it’s true because you’re never satisfied. Last year’s numbers are last year’s numbers no matter how great they were.
What I’m trying to tell you is that sense of satisfaction and accomplishment doesn’t last. Some think that if they just get into their “dream job” it would fix all of the problems and issues they are facing. It won’t. That’s akin to saying, “When I get married all the bad in my life will disappear.”
Maybe you are asking: “God why are you leaving me here?” The reason may have nothing to do with you or God’s displeasure on your life, and everything to do with the people you work with. God needs someone on the inside. Someone who will love them 8 hours a day. What if you had that mindset at work? A mindset that went looking for ways to love on people at work, be a friend to the lonely, to pastor the people you work with. I bet that if you did that at work (I’m not talking about neglecting your duties) you’d become more likable. I bet you’d get promoted because you are genuinely caring about others in a dog-eat-dog environement.
I have a pastor friend who leads a Nepali immigrant church. He was telling me how when his people come over to the states they cannot speak, read, or write English. It is terribly difficult for them to find a job. You can imagine the difficulty of employing someone who can’t understand anything you are asking them to do. So this pastor took a job washing cars at a car dealership with the hope that he would be able to bring on other Nepali immigrants in the future. How many of us would take a job as a car washer? How much fulfillment do you think exists in washing cars? His desire was that his boss would see what a great worker he is, and that he would want to hire more Nepali workers. Because of his hard work he has been able to land 35 other Nepali immigrants a job! Talk about fulfillment. He didn’t go to his job asking for fulfillment, he brought fulfillment to his job.
What would it look like for you to work in such a way that your organization or company would want to hire more people like you? For your boss to want to hire more people from your church with your work ethic? For your boss to want to hire more Christians because if that’s the way Christians work I need more of them?
You can start a new job tomorrow with a new mindset that you are working for God as his representative. You were never meant to find your ultimate fulfillment in your job. You were meant to find it in the One who created you!
Tomorrow can be the beginning of your passion not being drained out of you…and instead a day where you are fueled by a higher purpose.
“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” -Colossians 3:23 (NLT)
