Something to Fall Back On
My dad had said it was a good choice to get a degree in
education even if it wasn’t really my dream. It would be good to have “something
to fall back on.” I used to joke that every time I tried to fall back on
teaching, I sat on a tack. But maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea, after all, to
have something to fall back on.
Seems like there are some people who seem to know what they
want to do from early childhood and proceed to accomplish that. Others do not.
I am definitely of this latter group. When I was a child I wanted to be a
writer. In high school I wanted to be a beautician and I wanted to work for
Hallmark Cards. Neither of those dreams were fulfilled.
When I went to college I wanted to study anthropology, but
this major had a math requirement and I could not do math. Tried twice; failed
once, dropped once. Then I changed my major to education. Got a degree in
education with a major in Spanish and a minor in French.
I taught Spanish one year at a junior high and decided I had
made a big mistake. No one had told me that classroom management was about 80
percent of the job, and back in those days, they did not even have classes on
classroom management. So I was utterly devastated. At that point there was no
falling back on teaching.
If there was anything I “fell back on” in those days it was
typing, and I owe that to my high school typing class. Most useful skill I ever
got. Did a lot of temporary work in those days and typing and filing was a lot
of what we did on temporary jobs in those days.
As soon as I got interested in singing and playing the piano
and discovered I could do it and get paid for it I was pretty much in hog
heaven until I got saved. All of a sudden I couldn’t do that anymore. Playing
in bars just did not fit anymore. I remember the first time I tried it.
A bartender fell in love with me, I tried to lead him to
Jesus and, well, we just parted ways after the two weeks of the gig was up.
And, I found out for me, the gig was up as far as playing music professionally
was concerned too. But I was hopeful that one day God would work it out. So far
he has not and three decades have passed.
After ten years of working in clerical, retail, fast food
and public service work, I decided to go back to school and get a master’s
degree and then a Ph. D. All this to be able to work at something I would
enjoy, that would be a challenge, that would utilize my strengths and allow me
to be a witness for Christ.
Through all this, I have been a couple of short-term mission
trips and have served in a couple of full-time ministry capacities, once in
music and once in missions to migrant workers. Now I work at a school and serve
on the worship team at my local church. I am writing songs with a Nashville
publisher.
To make a long story short, things have not turned out like
I had hoped they would. But it’s not over till it’s over. And I guess it has
taken me this long to realize that God’s ways are not my ways. Sounds pretty
simple, doesn’t it? Ought to be, but the bottom line is there has been a lot of
difficulty on this career path, and I suspect I may be writing to others who
are also having difficulty.
Unemployed, underemployed, in transition is how many of us
may characterize ourselves. And we are, but let us remember: God is faithful. He
is your provider, not your job. He is your joy, not what you do for a living or
for a ministry. Jesus is your “something to fall back on.” Not a certain career
path, not what you had in mind for yourself.
If I had it to do over again I don’t know what I’d do differently. I have left a lot out of this story. Maybe this story is not your story at all. But I hope you do see that God is after you to completely surrender to him in the area of employment.
Let go of all your preconceived notions of what it was supposed to look like and just seek the Lord. He bought you, paid for you and wants to live his life through you.
Whatever you do…
1.
Spend as much time as you can with the Lord.
2.
Seek him.
3.
Study Scripture.
4.
Get to know Jesus better.
5.
Stay close to him.
6.
Commune with him.
7.
Follow his direction.
8.
Be obedient.
9.
Be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks
you the reason for the hope that you have.
10.
Seek to please God in all your activities and relationships
“But in your hearts revere
Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and
respect.” I Peter 3:15
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