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My first job came in my senior year of high school. It paid $8 an hour at the time and this was in 2000. That’s a lot of money for someone who hadn’t graduated high school yet. I was so dedicated to my job that it took its toll on my health. My job was my god, it was who I served. I skipped my lunch hour, eating only a pack of crackers, in order to keep working. I gave every single bit of myself to that place for one solid year. After a year of being there and working full time, I was laid off due to lack of work. In truth, I do not feel it was for that reason at all. You see, in the final month or so of that job, I had an incident with a coworker that resulted in damage to my vehicle. This coworker happened to be the first employee ever of that company. I got into it with my boss at one point and he was blaming me for what happened. Yep, you know me, I just ordered the guy to do what he did to my truck. Welcome to the politics of the workplace. So I gave, though it may not seem like much, one year of my life to that place. Then I was tossed away with no regards to what I did. Why did I talk about this? Well, you see, it is now 5 years later and in six months, I will be graduating from college. My major is Elementary Education. I started going to college during the last year of the previously mentioned job. I started in computer programming because that is what I was good at. Then I changed to Automotive Technology because that was what I wanted to do. It was all about me. God was working in my life though. Though I was doing what I wanted to, it was empty and meaningless. I sought advice from the guidance counselor at the first college. I took several tests home with me and filled them out in anticipation of our meeting. She took the tests from me and asked me about my previous weekend. It just so happened that I had been babysitting my niece and nephew at the time. Something you need to know is that I love my niece and nephew. I’m not always the best at expressing it, but I must have done well at the time when I was talking to her. After listening to me express the job I feel when I spend time with my nephew and niece, she immediately told me I should become a teacher. I looked at her and laughed in her face. After I finished laughing, I told her “NO”. God must have been laughing too at the time, but at me and my ignorance. Needless to say, I began the journey of becoming a teacher. Along the way, I came to know Christ as my Lord and Savior. As I have traveled down this long road of college and trusting God in blind faith, I am almost at the end of one path and ready to step out onto a new path. I look back on the days when I had a job that was my god and it saddens me. I gave myself to a cause that was not worthy. I poured every bit of my heart and soul into something that did not care for me. Now, I am in something that when I see a child’s face bright and early in the morning, my first thought isn’t “The prisoners have escaped!!” Rather, I feel like God is smiling at me through each and every one of those children’s faces. I have a purpose and a reason for being. Though it is hard to get up in the morning, it is not because I do not want to; it is the result of satanic attacks. I feel like my life has meaning now because God is directing the steps of my life. My entire purpose of writing this was I felt God leading me to share. I know of people around me that dread going to work everyday or are serving the god of job. DO NOT DO THIS!!! Ask God to show you where He wants to take you in life. I can personally guarantee you will not regret this decision. I am not saying that life will be perfect and without any kind of difficult or pain. I am telling you that God will supply you with peace and a purpose (not the purpose-driven life). God’s purpose for our lives is to glorify Him. God is glorified in us when we are at our weakest. I knew a lot about computers when I started college. God would not be glorified in something that I did not need his help in and he knew that. God wanted me somewhere that I would have to follow him, seek him, and depend on him every single day in order that he may be glorified. God doesn’t get glory when we are able to do things on our own. God gets glory through his supernatural hand appearing in our lives. God’s going to bring you to places where you think to yourself, “I cannot do this” and you are right. YOU cannot do this, but WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE (Philippians 4:13). Though I am good with children, I have found that I am not good at teaching things. God is changing this though. He is leading and guiding me every step of the way. The world of teaching is a new challenge each and every single day. Good thing I have God on my side, otherwise I’d fall flat on my face. Don’t tell God what you want to do with your life, ask Him what He wants to do with your life. He is inviting you to become a part of the epic novel He is writing instead of that measly fairytale you want to write. “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” – 1 John 2:17 You won’t just live forever, you’ll actually be ALIVE. And what a feeling it is to be alive. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33 Two conditions are required in that promise: seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness FIRST. Not after what you want or whenever you feel like it. FIRST. Who better than the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth to define what life truly is? Oh yeah, did I mention He created us to? “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.” – Jeremiah 29:16 |
