The Job

From yesterday's "My Utmost for His Highest":

A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do...Whatever we may be doing-- even eating, drinking, or washing disciples' feet-- we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it.

I don't think it's any secret that I don't like my job. I work really bad hours, have very little free time, and am in on average 1.5 days during the weekend. When most people are going home at around 5-6, I have just reached the halfway point in my day. My schedule is extremely unpredictable. One day I could have nothing to do; the next I am in until 4:00 a.m.

It's no secret that I don't like it because I tell everyone. Constantly. My number one hobby is complaining about my job. I probably spend 30% of every conversation that I have complaining about it--about how miserable I am, how much I don't like it, and how much I want out. I hit my 50% of the way done point on Sunday and I told the whole world about it. Closer to the finish than to the start--a great feeling.

But when I read that quote, above, I realize that I'm not doing my Christian duty by complaining about my job. I used to think that this job was against God's will for my life. I think maybe originally it was. But now that I'm here, and have come to "terms" with it, I realize that staying in this job, and seeing it through to completion, is God's new will for my life--His backup plan for right now. And I have a responsibility to serve Him here.

I don't think that this job will ever get better until I have a change in my attitude. I haven't been in this job living it to the fullest. I need to begin to change my outlook on it, and see it as an opportunity to serve Him. "He sees every situation as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ." Am I really doing that in this job? No, I'm not. And I don't think that God is going to make it any easier until I start to: "...and he will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do."

I think that once I truly have that attitude shift--and truly see this job as a way to glorify Christ--it will make this experience the best experience of my life--and can make this job the most exciting and exhilarating job ever. After all, this is an "experience" that sometimes lasts 100 hours a week. It is an "experience" that takes up 16-18 hours a day on average. If I were to spend each minute of every day here finding a way to glorify God--finding a way in my daily mundane tasks to focus on "obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ" then they might have to tear me from the walls to get me to leave.

So I am going to begin to focus on having an "attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him" in this job. I am going to begin to focus on seeing him in every task, every chore, every assignment, every staffing and every conversation. It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be exciting. If my goal is to get closer to him, when better to start than now?

"...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings..." ~ Phil 3:10