Have you ever reached over on a Monday morning to hit that snooze button one more time? I know I have. Maybe you had a really busy weekend and feel exhausted. Maybe you know that as soon as you arrive at the office, an overwhelming project will await your attention on your desk. We may all have days when we do not feel like getting up for work, but we should always know why we get up and go.
No matter what your position, industry or role at work, you are not at your current job by accident. You are there to do so much more than collect your paycheck and pay your bills. If you are a follower of Christ and God has blessed you with a job, He has handpicked you to be His salt and light in the marketplace.
Early in my career, I could have been referred to as a “quick job-change artist.” I was a committed Christian, fresh from college; yet I darted from one job to the next, holding four different jobs over three years. Each time I quit, I cited numerous reasons for my quick departures: My boss was mean; my co-workers were lazy or irresponsible; no one in the office seemed to take the company’s mission seriously; and several coworkers were cheating on their spouses. I thought my disgust was godly and that life was unbearable.
Why was I struggling? I was supposed to finish school and land the perfect job! When friends and family would ask me why I quit my latest job, I would answer stoically, “Darkness. I was surrounded by darkness.” What a great Christian I was! Too holy to get tainted by all that darkness!
Predictably, the abrupt starts and stops began to take a toll on me. All my righteous indignation didn’t change the fact that I was stressed out and miserable. Here I am, I thought, trying to follow the Lord, taking a stand against darkness by leaving intolerable work environments—yet something is terribly wrong.
One night, I cried out to God in sheer desperation. I knelt in prayer and asked, Why do I feel this way, Lord? Why am I constantly confronted with darkness in the place where you have made it possible for me to work? Where is the light?
Almost instantaneously, a still, small voice answered me in my spirit: You are the light.
That moment forever changed my entire outlook on work and my role in the marketplace. Suddenly, I understood that I carried the presence of God with me even in the most dark and uncomfortable places where He had blessed me with the opportunity to work. This was the beginning of an ongoing revelation for me and laid the foundation for so much more than I would experience later.
Challenges with a Purpose
As the Lord taught me more about this unique ministry, I began to understand that our assignment in the marketplace is a means for God to work out His will in our lives and in the lives of others. This means that we have God’s power behind us, even in the most challenging situations. I remember one opportunity I had to labor for the Lord under extreme pressure. During my work as an executive with an internationally known organization, I was promoted twice in five years. With each promotion, I encountered a high-level supervisor who seemed under demonic influence! I was harassed, humiliated, and tormented on almost a daily basis. One supervisor made a point of belittling me in the public hallway in front of my staff. To say I was under pressure is an understatement. I regularly retreated to the bathroom to cry, to pray, to cry and pray.
God gave me the strength to stand, though. From day one, I refused to gossip about my supervisor with anyone. I just kept doing my job as unto the Lord. My staff and others marveled at how I kept a respectful attitude toward her as I continued to perform my work diligently. My response ended up having such an impact on others that they began coming to me for prayer and advice. I know that because of my respectful attitude toward authority, I had far more opportunities to witness to people around me than I would have if I had handled the trial differently.
I also learned how to pray earnestly and faithfully about my marketplace assignment: Father, bless my supervisor and cause her to do “good” to me, whether she wants to or not. Lord, I thank You for preserving me and keeping me in this place, until such time as You move my supervisor or move me. To date, I prayed that same specific prayer for two different supervisors. God moved the first supervisor out of that job and that organization. In the case of the second supervisor, God moved me on to a different job.
The experience with my supervisor taught me the important of fixing our focus on our eternal purpose in the face of a temporary challenge. God had protected my heart with His righteousness, so that I would not allow my supervisor’s mean spirited behavior to distract me from my heavenly purpose.
As I walked with God during this challenge, I learned to cast my cares on Him because He cares for me (see 1 Pet. 5:7) and to lean on Him when I felt weak: “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Is. 40:31, KJV).
You can learn to cast your cares on God and lean on Him, too, as you walk out His call for you in the marketplace. Remember, your identification with Christ comes with a commitment to a faith-filled life. Sovereign God has already walked every place that your journey in the marketplace will take you.
There will never be a shortage of challenges in this life, no matter where you work. Yet, when we understand that we are called to be a light in the darkness, the purpose of our challenges becomes much clearer. Better yet, when we take Jesus to work with us, even the greatest challenges can be turned around for His glory!
~ By Dr. Vera R. Jackson
