Earlier this week I had a conversation with a friend experiencing frustration with his job situation and work life, something I'm all too familiar with. Below is an e-mail I sent him about working out my own faith in this situation. If you find yourself in a similar place, maybe this will offer some encouragement.
I'm having one of those days at work like you talked about Monday. My job makes my life feel worthless. Its not only unfulfilling, its counter productive. Surely we were made for something more, though its hard not to feel defined by the lacking. But I hear the Lord saying the value of our lives is beyond our sight. We don't have the scope or vision to see or understand. We seem stuck, trapped even, by the situation. Circumstances appear more powerful than they are because they're difficult to see past. Circumstances live in the immediate and situations apply pressure. On days like this I cling to the Lord in scripture. Romans 5:3-5 comes to mind. We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hopes doesn't disappoint because we've been given God's love through the Holy Spirit.
Most days I just want God to give me an out and instantaneously change everything for the better. Give me a new job, a better job, a better paying job, etc. I want this because I don't have much hope. I can't see a way out of here, can't get no relief (I'm channeling Bob Dylan). I believe God when He says He has big plans for us and that He wants us to prosper. I believe He wants us to toil and work for something valuable, something meaningful. And I believe that one day we will find what that is and walk in it. BUT, in the meantime I'm looking for hope, because hope is what I need to get me through until the seasons change. And hope starts with perseverance. Stick-with-it-ness. Perseverance means being vigilant and staying tuned in to the Lord so that when the time comes we don't miss Him. It means building the character necessary to proceed into what the next season brings.
Admittedly, I haven't persevered much. I've just complained and therefore missed the point of the current season. The Lord gives us a way for our sight to pierce our surrounding circumstances and situations, a ray of hope about the future. Persevere, build character, gain hope. Paul said hope doesn't shame us, that it will not let us down because the Lord loves us. He wouldn't do that to us. But we have to risk having hope in order for Him to prove it. How awesome is that? Its like hope is a requirement. So today, in the midst of a lot of confusion about personal value and worth with my job, I'm choosing to persevere with the Lord (not just endure) in this dead-end, crap chute, hell hole of a job in hopes that the Lord will not leave me here and that one day I'll do something more fulfilling that what I am now.
-Matthew
