3 Steps to be Happy In Your Work
Work need not be so boring or terrible that you don’t look forward to it. Work is a gift from God and is meant to be a blessing to you. God created you to experience fulfillment through work. You shouldn’t dread your work or try to find ways to avoid it. You should be looking forward to work every day.
I believe that if you are going to spend the majority of your time working, you should be enjoying it (Eccl. 5:18–19). God says He will give you the desires of your heart, and if working in a particular field is your desire, He is willing to grant you that blessing. The highlight about working at what you love is that it brings out the best in you and glorifies God. You may often shrug off your desires as being fickle, yet those very desires may be God’s will for you. Moses desired to help his fellow Israelites, but went about it the wrong way. Then forty years later God called him to go back and deliver his brothers from slavery. You may desire to do something bigger than you, and you may have even tried to do it and failed. Keep seeking God and keep trying — your dream will happen in due course.
Examine Your Life
If you have done your best to honor God in your work but are unhappy with the work you are doing, it’s time to examine your life. So what is bothering you about your work? Did you take the first work opportunity to arise, or did you prayerfully consider it before entering into that career or business choice? Do you need a career change? Have you constantly thought about doing something but lacked the courage to undertake it? Maybe you’ve thought of going back to school to improve your skills or start something new. Whatever it is, you need to either renew your mind-set about your work or change the work to the kind you love.
Find Your Calling
Considering that you spend more time working than doing any other activity, it would be beneficial to you and those you serve through your work to find and do the work you like. In other words, do the work that is your calling. Why? To reach your full potential in life or fulfill your destiny, which is all wrapped up in the work you do, you need to learn what your calling is.
To know your calling is to know what you’re gifted at doing. Your calling is what you dream. What is your vision or dream? If you are unsure what your calling is, consider this: The secret to finding your purpose is to identify what you enjoy doing so much that you would be willing to do it for free. Then develop yourself in that area and become really good at it so people are willing to pay you to do it. You will find that the thing you love doing the most, the thing that gets you all excited (while it doesn’t excite others), is where your calling lies. Knowing your purpose and living it out may not come overnight. For any dream to become a reality, you will need to work steadily at it (Eccl. 5:3). In working toward your dream, you may have put much effort into things you are not destined for and may have failed. But don’t give up. Success is often several trials and failures away. You should use any failure to propel you forward to try something new. Trying something new or reworking something you’ve tried before just might lead to the fulfillment of your dream and bring you great joy.
Seek God
Furthermore, if you want to know your purpose, you must know God and seek Him. It is God who created you, and no one knows you like He does. He knows exactly who you are, why you were born at this time, what resources you have available to you, and who you love. Since He created you and knows details about your life you don’t know yet, He’s the best source to go to for direction. He created you on purpose with a purpose; to find out what that is, ask Him.
Consider seeking God concerning the desire in your heart and determine from Him what you need to do to accomplish it. I have a friend who had a great career in the hospitality industry, yet he had a desire in his heart to open a business in a completely different industry. Doing this seemed illogical, since he was already settled in his career. Furthermore, he had a family to consider. Yet the desire did not go away, and he sought God about what he should do. God gave him the direction he needed and through a minister confirmed that the desire of his heart was not against the will of God and that he should go full speed ahead to start this new business. That was the green light from God he had been waiting for. He went ahead in this new venture and today is happily enjoying a flourishing business. He still has the opportunity to work in the hospitality industry whenever possible.
When you love the work you do you will not only create wealth but also enjoy a more productive and happy life.
What other steps can you take to enjoy your work?
The above excerpt is from my book Financial Empowerment: Realign Your Finances to God’s Will. From September 1st to 17th 2013, the ebook version will be on sale for 0.99c. Also you have a chance to win a free Kindle Fire (no purchase necessary) – visit http://bit.ly/Christian_Books for more details.
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