You are reading the FRACAT Blog Archive (also known as "FRACAT 1.0") for all posts prior to October 29th, 2007.
Do You Really Want To Get Out of Career Slavery?
(Just a note - remember, if you feel any burning or itching on Mondays, just come back tomorrow and it’ll be all better.)
Have you ever had a job that you really disliked? I mean one that you just couldn’t wait to get away from at 5:00:01 PM every day? Or maybe that’s your current job.
Perhaps you thanked God when you got a new job - any new job because it couldn’t be worse - only to find out that your new job isn’t too much different than your last job.
Perhaps I’m a slower learner, because it took me a good while to see that most jobs were like most other jobs. Unless I found something really special (say - working for myself?), the next job wasn’t going to be significantly better, if at all.
I remind myself of the Isrealites. Do you remember what happened with the Isrealites in Egypt? It’s relevant to my post today, so let me recap the story. And, while you’re reading it, think about your career and how they story might apply.
Read on for “The Two Minutes Summary of The Isrealites In (and out) Of Egypt”
2 MINUTE SUMMARY OF “THE ISREALITES IN (AND OUT) OF EGYPT
Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers. Becomes 2nd in command over all of Egypt. 7 horrendous years of famine. Joseph’s family reunited in Egypt. They all move there.
Flash forward many years. Pharaoh says, “Too many Hebrews in Egypt” (with good reason - there are respected estimates that there were over 1,000,000 Isrealites in Egypt by this point). Hebrews are now slaves. Midwives are to kill male children. Doesn’t happen. More Hebrews.
Enter Moses. Bush burns, but is not consumed. “I am that I am. Go free my people!” “You got the wrong guy!” “GO!” “Okay, but let me take my big bro Aaron!” A lot of whining from an 80-year-old, isn’t it?
Moses goes to Pharaoh. “Let my people go!” “No! Make bricks with no straw!”
“Let my people go!” “No!” Nile turns to blood.
“Let my people go!” “No!” Frogs.
“Let my people go!” “Okay. Wait - No!” Flies.
“Let my people go!” “Okay - but don’t go far. Nevermind - No!” Dead cows.
“Let my people go!” “No!” Have some boils.
“Let my people go!” “No!” Hail. Crops ruined.
“Let my people go!” “Just the men can go.” Locusts.
“Let my people go!” “Okay, take the wives and kids, too. Just leave your livestock.” Darkness.
“Let my people go!” “Ummm…no!” Blood on doorposts. Firstborn dead. First Passover.
“Let my people go!” “Get out of Egypt! What have I done? Army - go get them!” Fire by day. Clouds at night. Red Sea parted. Egyptian Army is swimming.
OPEN BOOK QUIZ TIME
After the Isrealites has been through all of this and seen God’s hand take them out of slavery, defeat the mightiest army on earth, and split the Red Sea so they could get to safety, what do the Isrealites do then?
They sing a song starting with:
“I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea.
and ending with:
The LORD will reign
for ever and ever.”
Hooray! God is good! What a faithful people, right?
Flash forward two months of walking later:
The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
-Exodus 16:3
So, there they are. Free at last! Out from under the thumb of the Egyptians! And two months later, they lose focus on God and wish they were back in slavery.
I won’t bore you with this repeated pattern. Instead, here’s the big question: are you doing the same thing with your career?
CAREER SLAVERY
So, there you are. In a job that you hate. You’re praying every day and night to either have the earth crack open and swallow up your boss or for you to get a new job.
Turns out, you get a new job. Too bad. That earth cracking open thing would’ve been cool.
Anyway, how long is it in your new job before you hate it as much as your old job? Usually, it’s about 3 months.
Now here’s an even bigger question: Did God save you from your last bout of career slavery just to make you a slave again? I’m going to go ahead and say that it’s unlikely.
So, what happened?
WATCHING THE CLOUDS AND THE FIRE
I’ve had a bunch of jobs in my career so far. I picked many of them the wrong way - I wasn’t focused on God. As a result, I was miserable. I was the Isrealites saying, “Couldn’t you just have killed me in Egypt!?”
Here are some of the things that I’ve done in picking jobs when I took my eyes off of God. Perhaps you’ve done some of this, too.
- Chase The Money - I didn’t feel like that these jobs would be the best place for me, but they were paying the big(ger) bucks. I’m pretty sure that’s not how God wanted me to choose.
- Quit Too Soon - While I don’t advocate sitting in a job you hate for years on end, there is a point where I just wasn’t putting forth the effort to “make it work”. Yes, it is a lot like a relationship
- Go For The Glamour - I can think of one time that I picked a job for the status that it would convey. I’m pretty sure God isn’t worried about getting on the cover of “People” and I shouldn’t be either.
- Believed Too Willingly - The greatest thing for con artists is that, once they tap into what motivates someone, they don’t have to work too hard. The mark convinces himself. It has been the same for me in jobs. I was told things that I knew would be difficult to be be true, but I really wanted to believe they were true. I forgot the “Be wise as a serpent…” part.
- No Patience / Faith - I know that I’ve taken a job more than once because it was the first semi-decent offer to come along. I wasn’t willing to be patient and let God show me a direction. Nor did I have the faith that He would provide for me even if I didn’t get a job this week.
- Not Involving God - There are many times that I’ve prayed to be in the job where God wanted me to be. Ironically, however, I would often stop praying when the “pucker factor” got high and the pressure was on. He knows my situation and He loves me, so I know He won’t abandon me. You, either.
Perhaps you have some of your own examples that could be instructive to people. Post ‘em - and feel free to start with, “I have a friend who…”
Enjoy the Search
Dan
Photo by: fracorea
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