Curbing Careerist Ambitions – The Garrett Ashley Mullet Show
LinkedIn told me yesterday that as much as 25% of the workforce in America intends to change jobs now that the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
That in conjunction with a conversation I had with a friend who is interviewing for jobs and hates his current one has me thinking back over my working life.
I can relate to men who wonder whether they missed the boat. Hostile work environments, being passed over for promotions, dealing with established good old boy clubs, having achievements and accomplishments go unnoticed even as the mistakes of other people are either also ignored entirely or else blamed on you.
As a husband and father, I have to find a way to insulate my family from work stress. But so also, as a man myself – there has to be a way to buffer my heart and mind from being tossed like a ship on stormy seas.
“Beware when men speak well of you,” we read in God’s Word.
So also, we are not to repay evil for evil when we are treated unjustly. But we are called to keep ourselves blameless in every way, and to work “as unto the Lord.”
Unless the Lord Builds the Career
Psalm 127 is also helpful here.
“Unless Yahweh builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless Yahweh watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.Behold, children are a heritage from Yahweh,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
In other words, it’s well and good to make plans and work toward a future purpose and outcome. But trust to God for the final results, and be content in his purposes for what those may be and how he will use them.
Our working life and careers are a means to an end, and should not be confused for the end unto themselves. And when we remember that, it can go a long way to curbing careerist ambitions or frustrations.
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