Help! I need a JOB! Help! I hate my JOB! by Shaun Saunders

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

It’s clear to me now. This economic upheaval has made many people nervous. Most of us have experienced (or know someone who has experienced) job loss, financial paycuts, or tight wages in the last year. Many of us have made some life-changing decisions about the way we live, what we buy, or where we invest our time and energy. I have been praying about this today and I believe this thought for the week will encourage someone who is afraid of the unknown. It is the time to step out on complete faith, and do what God has placed a burden within you to do.

You have no job or you hate your job! You've been rejected from school or you're in school and you feel trapped. Either way, you’re no longer happy doing the same thing. Even if you get your job back, you don't want it. Even if they paid you more, you wouldn’t be satisfied. So... what now? I’ll tell you what. Step out on faith and pursue the passion God placed within you. Plan ways to minimize your “optional” expenses and invest your time and energy in things not made by hands.

In this season, God is shifting our priorities and causing us to triumph WITHOUT the props, people, and positions we thought we needed to succeed. We’re so afraid to fly but when we look around the ship on which we’re sailing, we realize, “I haven’t drowned yet.” Why? Because God has been faithful! Now He’s waiting on you to believe in his faithfulness.

It’s one thing to say “One day I will..” It’s another thing altogether to decide “Today I will.” Trust me, someone’s decision today will change drastically the course of destiny for the rest of their lives. I hope, once and for all, that person is you.

The only scripture I am led to share with you comes from Philippians 4:19. The writer says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory.”

There are three points I wish to make:

1 ) Make him your God –The writer of this scripture is convinced that God is able; not because he is living off of grandma’s prayers and blessings. But this writer is sure of God because God isn’t distant and unconcerned. God is HIS. He identifies God as “MY GOD” because there is a thriving relationship between the two of them that affords him the privilege of declaring that God will do this or that, because he knows God to be faithful to his word. If you want to walk in everything God has in store for you, make Him your God. Invest your energy and time into loving him (not sharing his love with another), knowing Him (not hearing about him), listening for Him (not just complaining to him). When you make Him your God, He makes you His central responsibility. Give him the driver’s seat and trust God to get you where you need to go. When God is your God, you take your hands off the mess you created, and allow God to mold the clay the way it was supposed to be made. MAKE HIM YOUR GOD.

2) Trust him for others’ needs and yours will be taken care of- The writer does NOT say (even though we misquote this time and time again) MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL MY NEEDS. No, no, no! The writer says “But my God shall supply all YOUR needs." This simply tells me that in order to receive from God, I need to be willing to give to others first. I need to be more concerned about what God will do for you than I am what God will do for me. Paul isn’t defending God so that he can get his own new set of wheels. He’s encouraging the people to calm down and trust the God who takes care of all. Paul doesn't even tell them that HIS God has to be THEIR GOD! He just says, because MY God supplies, he will supply for you, too! Paul knows God so well that he uses God’s track record of provision as a testimony of hope for others. You haven’t witnessed for Christ until your boasting in God has nothing to do with your own image/vainglory. The moment you trust God to supply others’ needs is the moment God will turn around and take care of yours.

3) Reconsider your riches –The reason we are not satisfied with what we have is because we want the wrong things. We want what we think we need to get what we think we want. The degree will get the house; the house will get the woman; the woman will become the wife that will help me to get the church (because no single man is going to flourish without a beautiful wife)-the church will get the 5 acres of land because no pastor with a beautiful wife and a gorgeous house with a few degrees in his office, deserves to worship in a church that doesn’t match the level he has achieved. We’ve lost focus because our riches are housed “in gimme” and not “in glory.” The writer makes it clear: He’ll supplies your needs consistently because God doesn’t have to borrow from the world's "riches" to bless you. His riches are in His glory. His riches are in his own pockets. When God wants to bless us and cause us to be rich, he may allow us to be broke in monetary accumulation but wealthy in creativity. Reconsider your riches. Some of us, our creativity has been crippled because our jobs have sucked the very life out of us. For some of us, more money still wouldn’t make us any happier than we are. Why? Because we are now yearning for that which money cannot satisfy. We want wholeness and abundance; not a mansion and millions. If you can't give now, you won't give later. To have the money and be enslaved in a job that makes you hate the money, is another form of bondage. So reconsider your riches, Trust God to supply the needs of others, and finally, make him your God.

If you do, then your idol will no longer be your job, and your job search will begin with the gifts He’s placed in your hands and not the references on your résumé.