As I approached my senior year of high school I began to ponder what I was going to do with my life. There were kids in my class that had already drawn out their whole life; some were going to college straight out high school and some were going into the workforce. At the time I thought that this was the only two options a high school senior had. So, of course I chose to work after high school. The following year after I graduated high school I litterally went through a dozen different jobs. During most of my high school life I worked one job at a convenient store but after high school I went on a search for my calling if you will… I worked as a t-shirt printer, in a grocery store, at Wal-Mart, a car salesman for a month, mobile home warranty repairman, cleaned printers, went to junior college for a month or so, three different oil field service companies and the one that takes that cake…I worked in a cabinet factory for four hours; seriously, I left at lunch! Obviously I wasn't satisfied and I wanted to do something with my life – I wanted to take action in my life, I wanted to be defined. It’s in our nature to take action on are own, we simply cannot sit still. Just like the Israelites who couldn’t wait for Moses in the book of Exodus.
I remember the day I graduated; I was scared and didn’t want to leave the school. Some of you might relate with this feeling. This is supposed to be a time to celebrate but all I could think about was what I was going to do the following Monday. I didn’t have any plans at all. I had never filled out any college applications because I had already counted myself out of that and I wasn’t going to the military. For me, I knew that Monday was the first day of the rest of my life.
As I worked through a dozen or so odd-jobs/failed “career paths” I felt so unhappy and out of place with each job. With every job I had I would find a reason to leave, thankfully I was never fired. See, I would go to work somewhere and instantly I wanted the same pay as the person who had been there for several years or I wanted the management position with out working for it. See I wanted to work but I wanted to have the “glory” job if you will. Even though a person had gone to college and put in countless hours and years into a job and had excelled into management; I wanted that and if I didn’t get it I quit. I wanted to work but I was searching for an important job even though I had not put more then a few months into a single workplace. I simply didn’t want to wait.
We all struggle with waiting. We live in a time where our generation has the fast food mentaility, we want it fast and we want everything now, we don't like to wait. So why would waiting be something that we would be delighted in doing and what exactly do we get out of waiting? Waiting allows training in what God has truly called us each too. Too many times we chase after what we desire most. This approach has one problem with it… God is not involved. We must first seek God through scriptures and prayer. As Mark Steele said “We tend to base our desire on our emotions. We call it our passion. If something moves us, we want to be an important part of it – and we want to be an important part of it immediately without process.” We want what our fathers have without all the work and waiting. Waiting is not a new concept and the disciples even endured the same frustrations with waiting; this is made clear in Acts 1:4-7 ‘And while being in their company and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, Of which [He said] you have heard Me speak. For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So when they were assembled, they asked Him, Lord, is this the time when You will reestablish the kingdom and restore it to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to become acquainted with and know what time brings or fixed years and seasons, which the Father has appointed by His own choice and authority and personal power.’
When I was jumping from job to job I wasn’t really focused on God at all and I especially wasn't tuned into the fact that God created each of us uniquely. Our uniqueness causes us at time to feel alone, out of place or unhappy because we are always searching for that place to feel apart of something, to belong. We use words such as “Calling” and we say we are in search for our calling. When I was job jumping I didn’t know it at the time but I was searching for the call that God had on my life. We all have a sense that we are built for bigger and better things… that’s because we are. But why do some many of us struggle to find the “Call” on our life?
There are simply too many distractions in our lives which causes US to stand in the way. Think about it… our pleasures are instant and available, there are entertainment gadgets every which way to fill the quite time, there are amusements that attempt to address our boredom – there is no quiet time to spend with God or I should say that we are not making quiet time for God. Think about our times of heart ache or disappointments in our lives, we tend to “want to be alone” and in that alone time we either blame God or ask God to lift us out of something we have managed to get ourselves in. We don’t ever take quiet time to actually spend with God learning His word or praying to Him thanking Him for the blessings He has granted us with. I believe that our current position in life is a direct reflection of where we are in our relationship with God.
I remember thinking my last job was more of a curse then a blessing. I worked long hours and was in over my head more days then I wasn’t. I got to a point where I hated my job. One day me and my wife where speaking to a couple about our current situation, the husband pointed me to Jeremiah 29:11, which says ‘For I know the plans I have for you…plans for your welfare, not disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’ After really reading and praying over that scripture that night, I went into work the following morning, closed the door to my office and told God that if this is were he wants me then I am going to do my best, not complain and have Faith in His plans for my future. The next day, a bank called to offer me a job, the job I currently hold. I would have never been considered for this job if it wasn’t for the fast paced, on-the-job training that I had received and grown to despise; God was preparing me the whole time and I didn’t even see it. See, I had to wait to receive my orders from God… He was essentially waiting on me to have that moment of acceptance, to accept that He was truly not the cause for my frustrations but in actuality it was because of the lack of communication and quiet time I had with Him. Joshua new this all too well as he displays in Joshua 3:7-9 ‘The Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, when you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. Joshua said to the Israelites, Come near, hear the words of the Lord your God.’ Joshua was commanded to stand still and as he stood still he would hear the words of the Lord.
We are all called to “stand still” and listen. God wants the best for each one of us but without a true relationship with Him how can you really understand what He is training you on. That feeling of “something bigger” or “more to life” is not just a feeling, it is God attempting to show you that you are designed for so much more than the world can offer….
I challenge you. I challenge you to actually spend time with God. Turn off the TV, put the kids to bed, put ear plugs in (I do this!), wake up early, do whatever it takes to have quite time. Spend this time praying and reading scripture and do this each night. If you have never done anything like this, then start off just talking to God. Just talk to Him about anything. Just spend time with Him, believe me you can’t tell God anything that He hasn’t already heard or that he doesn't already know. He just wants you to seek Him, He is waiting on you, He is always waiting on you and will continue to wait because He has a great plan for each one of us.
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