Career choice or calling

Good day to you. As I am enjoying my day off with my bike riding and cooking a yummy vegan 3 bean chili with my instant pot I am also praying and contemplating my next step in God’s plan. Notice I didn’t say my plan, because despite the multiple times I have run this round in my head and applied to different universities I have yet still not gone to grad school. ‘In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps,’ Proverbs 16:9.

So you see I am a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor’s Degree and have been for many years. I love my job very much and have had the opportunity to experience many different things within my career as well as seen God’s hand and grace in it all. Many times I have applied for this ‘next step’ or this next title only to be told by The Lord to wait or sometimes even no. It can be frustrating at times to have your mind made up and think you know what’s best for you and what the next step ‘should be’ or even feel the need to fill some unspoken quota expected by others due to your accomplishments or age or both. Yes, I said it, there are expectations of every person whether someone says it to you or not. Growth is expected of course and encouraged, promotion and change is even expected depending on your job title or field of study. I wonder, do you feel like this? Do you feel like after so many years of doing a job, it’s just an expectation of you to move up? If you don’t move up then it’s because you are not doing enough, not motivated enough, not smart enough, just not enough..

At the end of the day who are you moving up for? Who are you working for? Who’s approval are you seeking? If you’re seeking your supervisor’s approval or coworker’s approval you will not be satisfied with that. Man will not be ever able to satisfy. We simply can’t make everyone happy all the time. That’s why it’s important to do what is on our hearts to do for ourselves, but more than that for The Lord. You see, once you have The Holy Spirit and you are living your life for God you are no longer your own,  you were bought at a price and you will be fulfilling His calling. Sometimes that means He gets you that promotion, sometimes that means you stay where you are even when you want to move. Sometimes that means swallowing your pride and staying in a job that other people feel like are beneath them or that you should have long been out of. That’s the difference between living for Christ and living for the approval of man. When you are following His will you may look odd to others, but you look beautiful to The Lord and you are EXACTLY where He wants and needs you to be. This is called being in the will of God. When you are fully walking in the will of God you will know, because you will be at peace.

Until you are at peace, it is important when making major life changes and choices as a Christian you pray and seek His wisdom. He will give us the direction we seek. The answer God gives us may not come as we think, it may not come when we think or how we think it will, but just know because we are His children it will come, nonetheless, and we have to trust in that. We see a glimpse of life, but He sees all. This brings me to one of my favorite scriptures..

Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God and the peace that surpasses all understanding will the guard the hearts and minds of Christ Jesus, amen! Philippians 4:6-7

I will share lessons I have learned along the way in another blog post sometime it is interesting to say the least and may help someone find their way possibly! Until I tell the rest of this story, just know that if you are a child of God and you unsettled in your spirit as to what the next step in life to take go to Him in pray and trust Him with your life. He is worth working for, He is worth waiting on, and He is worth giving all the praise! There are so many testimonies of when I waited on Him and what happened as a result. Many times I was denied a job I was well qualified for and when I was look down at, because I wasn’t getting my Master’s degree yet or still in bedside nursing, but the beautiful stories I can tell you of His grace because I trusted and waited on Him. God bless you as you wait on Him! He sees you and you are enough through Christ thank God!