Episode 2: Why Your Job Description Isn't Your REAL Job Description (& HOW to Live Out Your Real One)
Do you ever question the bigger purpose behind your work?
Whether you're an employee, an entrepreneur, a small business owner, a stay-at-home parent, or on the job hunt... we all have moments when we struggle to see our work as truly meaningful.
Maybe you feel like your job is just a boring list of tasks to complete.
Maybe you feel stressed and overwhelmed by your work and are dreading going to work.
Maybe you find yourself constantly searching for better opportunities out there.
Whether you're an engineer, a designer, a parent, a doctor, a teacher, a CEO, a church leader, or anything in between, God has intentionally placed us in our respective areas of work for HIS purposes!
Join us for this conversation as we unpack:
How can we view our work through God's lens?
Common misconceptions of what a "successful" career looks like
What your true job description really is
3 Key Practices to help you live out God's purposes through your work
Questions to help you hear what God's saying to you about how he wants you to be on mission for him
A practical exercise for you to apply this week
No matter where you are in your journey, you can use these practical tips to better view your work through God’s lens and use it for his greater purposes - in the position he’s uniquely placed you (or is calling you to!).
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
BOOK: Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work by Tim Keller
COMMUNITY / EVENTS: Faith & Work Movement
PODCAST / BLOG: Faith Driven Entrepreneur
Transcript
[0:00]
Today, we're talking about why your job is NOT actually your job. Join us today as we dive into how we work and how to view work through God's lens.
Hey everyone! Welcome back to our podcast! We are so excited to have you guys here, and today we are diving into one of our personal favorite topics, which is about faith and work. And this is a huge topic we often hear people talk about, struggle with, have questions about, including ourselves.
And it's not a surprise, because I mean, most of our time, our waking hours, are spent doing some type of work. According to the Bureau of a Labor Statistics says that we spend over 55 percent of our waking hours, of our lifetime, on average doing work. So today, we're going to dive into this from God's perspective about, you know, how do you view your specific job and your job description from God's lens?
Like Grace said, we spend more than half of our lives working. So how do we- there's so many voices that are conflicting with us in culture, like, oh, you should do this, climb the corporate ladder, salary negotiations, all that stuff. And then there's God, right? And there's so many things to unpack with how does God want us to see work, where we spend so much of our time?
[1:34]
So I'll say- I'll share from my experience. Sometimes, when it comes to work, I do feel (and Grace knows, I never use the B word), sometimes I feel bored at work, and even looking at her, she's like cringing. (I don't believe in the B word. I don't have that in my vocabulary.)
Yeah, yeah, I wish I had that super power. But it's often because- I get bored because I lose sight of my true purpose for working and and why I'm working, and I remember even in my earlier years in my career, and even sometimes today, I do feel, like, slivers of boredom when there's not much to do.
Again, that's not really a vocabulary in Grace's mind (not much to do, because there's always things to do) but you know, just like some downtime here in there. So I'm grateful for that but I do feel like a sense of boredom. So I think like earlier in my career, I definitely had senses of boredom and just over the years to there's some peaks of stress and then there's boredom.
So, even with these feelings of stress or boredom, which are almost opposite of each other, you do tend to lose sight. And I definitely have lost sight many times, getting swept into the, like, the culture of career and money, especially here working in Silicon Valley, where a lot of people just outside - actually inside and outside Christian circles - we tend to get swept into this narrative of of money and career and promotions and stock options and all that stuff.
But you know, I feel like God has definitely done a big work in me over the years from just satisfying myself in my career, like, even calling can be an idol sometimes and so I think I feel like the thing that God has really taught me is just praying and inquiring of the Lord and sensing the Holy Spirit and really, being more salt and light in my workplace.
And that's really started over the past, I would say like three or four years of my career, where I felt like the Holy Spirit wanted me to minister to people more and be more intentional. Some examples are like when God prompts certain coworkers in my mind and I just write encouragement notes to them.
So at work, we use a tool called Slack, maybe you’ve heard of it. So sometimes I would often Slack coworkers like encouragement notes, because God wants us to be the salt and light of the world and maybe to them we’re the only Christians that people know, so it's such, it's such a responsibility and also an honor as well to be salt and light of the earth.
[4:22]
How would you say, approaching- ‘cause we'll get into, you know, the more like, the framework and the principles that we wanna encourage people to view their work as. But, like, what would you say before and after, like before you learned how to view your work through God’s lens, versus after: How has that changed you? Like affected your feelings and emotions but also just overall like yourlife, like how has that impacted you?
Yeah, I definitely have more of a sense of peace. I would say, and knowing and it also lets the pressure off of it. Like, for example, if I don't get promoted or if I don't get the role that I want, which has happened, even this year actually. I think it lays off the pressure of knowing that the purpose of my life is to not advance my career, it's not It's not even to- I mean, this is valuable, it's not even to like do an excellent job on your performance review or just get start five-star ratings.
God does want us to do excellent work. But I feel like our primary mission in my opinion is to make disciples of all nations and really spread the good news across everywhere we go, like locally, regionally, all over the world. So yeah, I feel like personally that mission and purpose has really laid off the pressure off just performing and getting good scores on performance reviews and even advancing my career ‘cause my career is definitely, it hasn't been up into the right, but it's more like the stock market: lots of us downs and everywhere in between.
Yeah, and I can definitely see that, too. Like, as your wife like, Im always just like, so, taken aback and in awe that you don't get stressed easily by your work. I remember many times when we've had these long conversations because for me, it's, I think especially growing up here in the Bay Area where it's very work-centric - but you know, this applies anywhere, too - but I have always been like work centric. My life is like, everybody around you, they’re just always talking about work.
So inevitably, like the stress builds up. You feel all this pressure to perform and if you don't do well at work, it affects everything about you. So remember asking Alex many times like, you have so much work, and they keep assigning you more things, but you don't look stressed… and Alex was like yeah, like what's the big deal?
Yeah, yeah, I think I just, I mean, I know earlier in my career and even when I was younger, I was like, super ambitious, and I have my own timelines, like, I want to get promoted like one year after starting a job, then I realized as I got older, that's actually not really even realistic.
Nor is it God's purpose for you. And so, I just learned that life rarely goes as planned, and even if you plan your life, God orders your steps. And so I feel more at peace, that God orders all of our steps and all the details are already laid out.
Every email, every career move, all that stuff and all the details in between are already ordained before God.
[7:26]
So good. Yeah, let's get into some more of, I think, the teaching portion to help people understand like what is the framework, because I feel like a lot of people will be listening to you right now and be like, I cannot relate to that at all. Like, that's just seems so far off. How do you have that kind of vision and peace about work?
And so, I mean there's a lot to get into this that we will unpack and future episodes, but this is- yeah I feel like this can split up into multiple multiverses of work and faith. Yeah, definitely, it's only a foundation and the teaser. Yeah, very, very much a teaser.
But I think to start off. Both of us are very passionate- actually this one is one of the reasons we even met, was because I shared on my passion for faith and work.
One of the foundational understandings about work, I think if you if you've never heard this or read this before, is that work in nature is good. Like God created work as a good thing. If you look at Genesis when God created man, he put man to work to cultivate and tend and watch over the gardens and make the animals and, you know, all the living creatures.
So, and it's definitely supposed to be a good thing pre-fall, which is, you know, before since sin entered into humanity and are brokeness.
So after the fall happened and sin entered into humanity and, you know, everything became the world became broken. That's also the reason why so many of us struggle with where and you mix in, you know, human greed, human selfishness, our own ambitions, identity issues, pride and just the whole thing - it's no wonder why, you know, so many of the struggle with this. And so if you struggle with it, if you feel like, “I’m bored at work, I don't know what I'm doing, I feel purposeless, I feel really weighed down by it” and you struggle and are frustrated with work, you're not alone.
Just know that it's basically what the world has set us up to feel, you know. So that's why it’s so, so important, and we're really glad to be talking about this today, about how to view it, from a redeemed, from God's perspective, and how he designed us to view and to approach our work.
So one quick passage that I wanted to share that I think really frames this well. It also opened my eyes, too, like this past season, God’s been especially highlighting this passage to me. It's Matthew 11:28 through 30 from the Message version. This is Jesus talking to his disciples and the crowd saying, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
So I thought it was really interesting, this passage, how, you know, Jesus is talking to people who are tired and weary and heavy laden and he's not telling them like take a spa day or take a nap, you know, go - that would be nice - and that’s what a lot of us do, you know, we’re tired, we just focus on like these self-care methods, which are not bad, but I just think it's interesting that Jesus, instead of saying all that, he says “walk with me and work with me, watch how I do it” and it just shows you know, work is supposed to be something that is light that is an easy yoke with Jesus when you do it with him, when you do his way.
And I just think so many of us see work and rest as this opposite dichotomy, when really God created it to be done in tandem, that when you work, you're also rested, because you're doing it with him, his way. So I thought that was really interesting passage to just frame that for us.
And next, Alex will show more the purpose behind our work.
[11:24]
Yes, so I alluded to it before during about my experience, but the key things to remember about work is that our true purpose here on earth is the Great commandment and the Great commission. So I'm gonna read off some verses here.
So the Great Commandment says in Mark 12, reading the New Living Translation version, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” So that's the Great Commandment.
The Great Commission is from Matthew 28 reading also New Living Translation: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”
So at the end of your life, you won't want to wish you had better performance reviews or had a better-paying job, because that's really not what God is going to ask you. Well, I don't know, I haven't died yet, but I would imagine based on the Bible that God will ask something like:
What have you done with what I've given you? What have you done with the word of God, right? How have you loved him and others? Yeah. How have you loved him and others? How have you shared my love and the good news of salvation with others?
And those are like, if you were to think of it in work terms, those are like our OKRs: ours objectives and key results, or KPIs. Like, I work in the corporate world. So I'm just used to this lingo. But those are what we call North Star metrics. I'm throwing out a lot of business jargon here.
So it's really important to keep in mind that our goal in life, no matter where we are, whether we’re in corporate world, or a teacher, or an engineer or anything in between, it's really to love your brothers and sisters, to love your co-workers, your bosses, forgive them, regardless of how they treat you and how they look at you. And also to spread the gospel, the good news of salvation and Jesus to everyone around you, and then we'll go into more tactical things about how to do that later.
I feel like that's such a big topic, but I think for us it's important to get the belief and the mindset right, that I'm here on mission. And I'm here to love people and spread the gospel and everything else is just icing on the cake, right? Every promotion, every career accomplishment, it's all just nice things, right?
Yeah, God is in the business of people, and I think that's hard for us as humans in a work-centric, productivity-focused culture to drop our heads around, like, you know, how do I see my- I like how you were talking about OKRs and KPIs because I thought, yeah actually when we’re at work, we talk about OKRs and that is for purpose, so that everybody's focused on this is what we're trying to do, right? To get alignment. Right, to get alignment as a team. But I think it's really important as Christians, as believers that, we remember, always, every day, that we have a higher layer of OKRs that's God’s OKRs.
Like, how, what does God actually want me to do above all things? Not just these business or organizational goals. Of course, we want to honor those, too, but that's not your end-all, be-all, that's not your ultimate mission. Your ultimate mission is to love God and others and to make disciples.
And I think this also- one quick caveat, or not caveat, just note is that also applies in Christian workplaces, too. I think it's easy, I’ve heard this a lot in ministry, that you lose that because you're trying to do all this work for God, but then you lose sight of the people right in front of you, the people you're working with. And it's not just about making disciples of non-believers, it’s also with believers and having that fellowship that, you know, that unity and loving them, you know, every person is human being. So anyway, that's a different topic. But I wanted to mention that as well.
[15:31]
On the topic of being missional, so that's ultimately, you know, what we are drilling into here is: your real job description is not just the thing that you see in terms of your roles and your responsibilities laid out on paper. Your real job description really is the Great Commission and the Great Commandment in the way that God has called you to do.
So, whatever you're doing for work, whether you're an engineer, a designer, a salesperson, a construction worker, a nanny, a parent, a stay-at-home mom, whatever it is now you're doing as a form of work, it's actually not just about that, tactical thing, it's the higher OKR - to put in Alex's terms - is really to do those two things: The Great Commandment and Great Commission.
And the Great Commission, Jesus gave right before he ascended, so it must have been really important. Yeah, his last words, you know, as if someone was dying, the last words in their deathbed. So Jesus gave this commission as the most important thing for us to do.
So how do you do that in the workplace? And again, we’ll unpack this a lot more in the future, but just high-level, we wanna say a big part of this is just being present and aware of: How does God want you to be faithful with the little?
You know, we talk about a lot about big grandiose things in our culture, like, oh, I wanna make a big impact, I wanna be famous, or I want to like make a startup that's gonna blow up into the next Google or Facebook or whatever, sorry, Meta (I can’t keep up with all the changing companies), but yeah, I think at the end of the day, it's really about the small things and things that people don't see that might not even get your manager’s attention, might not get other people's praise, but God sees that and God actually honors that and is so pleased, when we do things in the little in the faithful that is really honoring to other people and to him.
This passage from Colossians 3:23-24, says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”
So yeah, it's really not about, you know, pleasing your co-workers, pleasing your boss. Of course, you want to honor and be diligent with your work, but ultimately, your real work is supposed to be to honor God to worship him and he is your biggest your ultimate boss.
And that's I think that's why it's so important to just, like- I think we talked about this a little bit in the first episode- but kind of, like how you would have a one-on-one your manager, you know, to check in on things and see like, “Am I going the right direction? Any feedback you have for me?” We need to be doing that daily with God. Having one-on-ones, having his feedback, his input to make sure we're not, just like, veering off into what we think we should be doing. And it's really not about your perf reviews, your performance, or impressing people. It's about honoring God with what he's given you in the place that he's called you to.
And I think another question that we will actually unpack in the next episode is well, what do you do when you're being faithful but you still feel like this might not be it? Maybe God wants to transition you out to another place. Maybe there's something different you're called to do, and we'll talk more about that in the next episode, just to give a little teaser.
Yeah, I wanna dive a little deeper into what you said about faithful in the little, and I feel like “little” is so relative to people. I think “little” can be defined as really whatever is in your hands. Whether you’re a CEO or an individual contributor or getting working your first job at a grocery store or whatever it is, I feel like whatever's in front of you is your “little” and whatever God calls you to, just be faithful with that.
I feel like we get so caught up in choosing the right job, getting a better job, getting promoted, making more money, because that's what culture in the world focuses on.
But God, he cares about the details of our lives, but that's not his main objective for humanity. So it's more about trusting him, and how is your character forming to be more Christ-like? How is your character being more loving to others, to those who are difficult?
Great place is at work, where there can be a lot of jealousy, or there can be a lot of unfairness, and that's where you show up as a follower of Jesus to be generous to people, be forgiving to people, be kind to those who are- who just rub you the wrong way.
And so those are the kinds of opportunities at work where it's for your own character development honestly, and for your spiritual formation.
[20:28]
Yeah. And I feel like, just to brag on Alex again, I feel like Alex does that so well, like, I see all the time in his work environment. He's like Slacking his peers, or his boss or directors, and just like, encouraging them intentionally. He doesn't have to do that, but just, you know, out of the goodness, out of the love, that he has, that wants to show people, he does that.
So it doesn't have to be a big thing, like something we think, oh, we have to- it's so hard to, like, love people. It can be very small, in the way of like, just giving somebody a compliment or encouragement, or if they're complaining and having a hard time you're just listening, you’re present, you know, it doesn't need to look very grandiose again.
Yeah, it's about also remembering the details of people's lives and really just making mental notes, or if you want journal it down.
Like, for example, even today, the day of this recording, my manager told me that - maybe my manager will listen to this, I won't say her name - but she has some family illness, just broadly speaking, and I can sense that she was really worried. And so I'm making a mental note of that, and I’m making a note to follow up with her.
And then a couple weeks ago, another manager told me that she was struggling with x y z, and then today, I followed up with her. And so these little things that, well, not only shows love to people, but it just makes a mark for them to remember.
Not that the goal is to be remembered, but as Jesus followers, we're called to love and to care for people.
Right. Last question, I think I wanna unpack with you before we get into three practical things to help you this week at work, is around that topic - Like, how do you make sure- cause I think some people will listen to this and be like, well, I don’t want to feel fake, like I don't want to just, you know, make a mental note of somebody's situation, so that I can follow-up, so that I'll get brownie points, so that I'll look, you know? So how do you make sure you're doing those things intentionally, but not in a selfish, like, self-promoting or beneficial way, if that makes sense?
Yeah. Yeah, that totally makes sense. Well, I think the heart is deceitful, and I think it's impossible to be 100% pure until Jesus comes back or we’re with him in heaven for eternity. So they're will always be at least one percent selfish motive, so let's just get that off the table. I'm definitely not 100% pure. (You’re not an angel?) Yeah, I'm not an angel. Surprise, surprise.
But if your motive is, well, first of all, first examine your heart. If you feel like there's some selfish motive, just ask God to soften your heart and have a heart for loving people and for, um, being other-centered versus getting promoted or building a great reputation, because that's exhausting. Like, I can imagine. Like, I actually used to be like this, like I would put a, like, a calendar reminder like every other week. Oh, I should message this person or compliment them. I'm a very processed-driven person. So I’d have like these reminders, but it's really unhealthy. Like if you keep doing that, and you don't get the results that you want, like the reputation that you want, then it's just, it's just foolish, to be honest.
Yeah. So you wanna do it- you want to ask God, while you're doing these things, ask God to also be transforming you from the inside. Not just your actions look good, but it's like your heart needs to be in the right place that only God can help you with basically.
Yeah. But even if there is, if there is any selfishness, I feel like, I think there's a phrase that says feelings follow actions. I could be totally butchering that, but I feel like the more you actively love people, the more your feeling and your heart will follow.
If you check in on someone, like your co-worker who's going through xyz, I feel like over time you would develop more of a compassion empathy for them.
So I think there's a passage in Philippians about how, when sharing the gospel, there's people who do it about of selfish ambitions, and there's people who do it out of good intentions, but both ways, they're sharing the gospel, and I feel like this is- a way- this is similar, it's not exactly, but it's similar to it, where you are, actively loving your co-workers your bosses, regardless of your intention, they won't know, it's still being salt and light to the world, but in the process asking God to mold your heart, shape your heart and shape your character.
Yeah, so don't wait to have the feeling to do it. It's like you do it, and then the feelings come after. Sometimes you don't feel like it at all. But, just like any relationship or marriage or any good thing that you commit yourself to you, you gotta do it, regardless of what you feel.
It's kind of like, giving or tithing, which we will unpack in without future episodes. (Oh, boy.)
[25:48]
That's good. All right. So real quick, we wanted to also just share three ways that you can have a perspective shift around your workplace as a mission field for God.
So the first thing is to actually intentionally and actively ask God how does he want you to partner with him with what he's already doing? How is he already working?
And so really quick, I'll just share a quick story from my experience is, I remember one of my previous jobs, when I was relatively new still, I had such imposter syndrome. You don't even understand, like think of the worst imposter syndrome you've ever had, times like five, maybe ten.
It was just- I was like- (You're so humble, you worked at Google, it’s like the pitfall for imposter syndrome, with ridiculously smart intelligent people.) That's exactly why I was like, oh, shoot, I don't feel qualified, I think, ironically, it also made it worse for me, because I also knew, oh my gosh, the only reason I'm here is because God put me here.
So I knew, I'm like, I'm not as like, you know, practically capable as all these people and intelligent, and whatever. But anyway, long story short, I was just really fear-ridden and anxiety-ridden and insecure about like, am I supposed to be here? Am I mistake? Like they probably regret hiring me.
And I don't know if anyone ever has felt that way, too, but that's what was going through my mind all the time. And I couldn't even, like, focus on doing a good job, because I was just questioning myself.
But God really convicted me, ‘cause one day, in my prayer times with him in the morning, I remember he basically made me like, reminded me, God doesn't make mistakes.
So the fact that he brought me there, he placed me exactly where I was, it's for a reason. And so that really motivated me to be like, okay, if God doesn't make mistakes, like who am I to question God, right? Like who am- kind of like Moses, Moses was like, “Don't pick me. I'm not qualified.” He had the most important syndrome, too, in the Bible, but God is like, look at me, remember who I am, and I'm calling you. And it's not because of your skills or abilities. I'm just choosing you, and you just have to trust I’m with you.
And I remember that really helped me to be, okay, if i'm here for God's purposes, if he actually led me here, then I need to lean into: “God, why did you come here? Show me how you want me to partner with you, how you want me to be intentional.”
And I'm not even kidding, like, after I asked him that question about, “God, show me how I can partner with you,” he literally started highlighting to me things about the people around me, my co-workers, other leadership and executives, that it just, like, came out of the blue about like, oh my gosh, this is why God put me here to be a light to these people who are suffering.
I also saw a brokenness all around me versus before, I was like, oh, seems like everyone's good, you know, everyone's in their comfy tech bubble. But after I started asking that question, being more intentional, God showed me: wow, this person is actually not fulfilled or this person on the outside, they look really successful, but they- deep down, they are hurting, they are empty, they're seeking more. So yeah, anyway, just really opened my eyes so I encourage you to also do that in your workplace to ask God.
[29:14]
Yes, the second thing is focusing on loving people. So, um, I think I said this already but your purpose is to love people, and that’s constantly serving, looking to serve and watching out for their needs.
So some really practical things that you can do is pray for your co-workers. I remember a few times where I literally prayed for coworkers. One time in my previous company, my boss lost his brother to a car accident. So you can imagine just the devastation, so I literally prayed for my coworker - or my boss at a time.
Very daunting. Um, didn't know how he'll take it, but I felt like it was a very vulnerable place that he was in. And so, I think he would accept anything at that point.
And pray for miracles and what we call “divine downloads.” That's exactly what it is. Just miracles, for God to show up. Believe in God from miracles in your workplace, um, for people to have soft hearts.
And even in your work, like, pray for, like, if you have an upcoming project that's just very daunting, pray for miraculous things to happen. God wants your faith.
Pray for boldness and discernment to share Jesus. And I think this is very important. Sometimes it is the right message but not the right time, and so we must discern: when is the right time to share the message? So that's where you just have to lean on God and ask for his wisdom
And then before our opportunities to be the aroma of Christ. There's opportunities everywhere, but pray for ones that God wants you to step into and if he’s calling you to step into it, step into it. Be bold and courageous to do that.
But the key here is to love people and to love love God. And you can't pour out of an empty cup. So just remember: Great Commandment, Great Commission is our number one OKR.
Yeah. And with the empty cup, that's why we talked about this, in the last episode - is the number of most important thing is a relationship with God.
Because if you're trying to do all this mission for God, but you yourself are not filled with God's love, you can't love and pour out to other people in the right way. So yeah, just wanted to add that.
[31:39]
So the last, the third thing, the last thing is when you're making decisions, instead of doing things on autopilot, based on what is popular or even based on common human sense, to make sure you're checking your heart about your motives, is this for yourself or is this for God's kingdom?
And this is really tricky. But again, it's so important to cultivate that relationship with God to ask him to show you and highlight those areas in your heart and in your life that he wants to unroot, that he wants to shine a different light on.
And you know, some examples are, are you trying to take on more work than you are called to just to look good to others, even if it means, you know, you have to sacrifice now time spent with your family or time spent with God.
Are you jumping at opportunities that could make more money out of a scarcity mindset without asking and checking honestly if God actually wants you to do that?
Or, I think this is a common struggle with believers going to like offsites and events: are you getting totally drunk and wasted and doing questionable things to just blend in and be accepted by those around you, instead of being salt and light in the world?
So really the intentional and ask God to help you to see your workplace as a mission field. Because when you realize that you are God's ambassador, you're not just an employee of whatever company or, you know, even if you're owning your own business, you're not just a business owner. You're a steward of everything God's given you, and you’re an ambassador for him. So that really shapes how you show up at work.
[33:09]
So three tips to see your job as more than just a job:
Number one, look for how to partner with how God’s already working. Just pay attention to where he's working, um, even like people questioning about faith, or even having life crisis, is a way that God works through people.
Um, second is focus on loving people. Don't think of yourself as much as thinking of others and praying for them.
And then also be intentional in your decisions for God's mission. So that could mean not taking a job opportunity. Um, because God wants you want to specific team. Or, switching companies. Um, again, we'll have - in our next episode, we'll talk about how we discern when to switch our careers and jobs and yeah, that's gonna be a lot to unpack.
[33:58]
So some reflection questions that we wanna leave you with:
If you have a job currently, who is someone or perhaps a few people at your work, that you feel like God wants you to love? What is one thing you can do this week to show love to them?
If you're in the other camp, if you don't have a job currently and are searching for one, start asking God honestly to direct you with thoughts and ideas about the specific mission he is calling you uniquely to pursue.
And this is where it is important not to be swept into the world and even things that are so deceitful like greed, like, oh this this job is more money, or this is a great opportunity to be on a great platform.
Sometimes that's for you. Sometimes that's not for you. That's for you to really discern and making intentional decisions with God.
[34:52]
And I think one bonus is have a vision for your life. You don't have to know specifically what you want to do, but if you can have a vision, like a God-aligned vision, I think that just informs so much more of your daily, weekly, monthly, annual seasonal decisions, even what job to take or whatnot.
Yeah. A phrase I felt like God was highlighting to me the past few days is that passion can fuel, but vision is what sustains. Whoa, that's good. And I just think- because I've been experiencing that like through this podcast, through our, you know, partnership and what we're doing here together, it's only because God gave us a vision of these are the people I want to reach. These are, this is what I’ve equipped you to do.
This is an actionable step you can take this week is to ask God intentionally every morning: God, how do you want me to partner with you today, and who specifically can I serve and love?
And then listen, ask him and listen. Like, I know sometimes it's hard just to be still. But really, be still, listen to what he's saying.
Even right now, you know, as you're watching or listening to this, take a second to ask God: “God, what are you saying? What are you trying to highlight? What thoughts are you bringing up about my own work right now? Who are the people in my workplace that I'm thinking of that you’re bringing into my mind? That’s not an accent. God wants you to love them.
So yeah, we pray that you obey and we pray that you really just follow how God is leading you. The point of all of this is to incorporate God in how you view and approach your work. Don't just go on autopilot, I know we're all tempted to just like, oh, it's just work, but it's not just work.
Well, thanks so much for joining us for this episode. We hope it encourages you and I hope- we hope that it gives you a vision to see your work in a different way.
And so next episode we'll be talking into the riveting- or about the riveting subject of transitioning jobs and how do you know when's the right time or how to do it.
So yeah. See you back next week!
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We'd love to hear from you about your reflections and questions for us to unpack in the future. We invite you to share this episode, tag us on social media, and follow us for more encouragement and helpful tools for living fully the way God designed you to.
We pray that God fills you with his love, his joy, his peace, and his wisdom as you continue growing in your daily walk with him. We're so grateful for you and we can't wait to see you again next week!