Day Thirty-Eight

WHEN YOUR CALLING ISN’T YOUR JOB

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

—COLOSSIANS 3:23 ESV

What about when you’re stuck in a job that isn’t what you’re forever called to do? There are times when you’re doing a job that is not your calling. Maybe it’s nowhere near your calling. Maybe you feel like every hour that you work at your job, you’re doing the opposite of your calling.

In those situations, you are still called to be faithful with your work—working as for the Lord and not for men.

I’ve had jobs that weren’t my calling. I mean, working at the Local Taco was not my calling (even though it was delicious), but I needed to make money. So I showed up to work on time, I did the right things, I did the best I could until I didn’t work there anymore, and I gained a ton from that experience.

Hardly anyone goes from realizing their dreams to discovering their calling to getting to do their perfect dream job. We all have parts of our jobs that aren’t our favorite, but we have to do them.

When I was still figuring out what my career was going to look like, I was really poor—I mean, barely getting by, having to ask my parents for money, carpooling to save gas, selling-things-on-Craigslist poor. And so were a lot of my friends. At that time, many of us were on the first few steps of our creative careers, and those first few steps looked like shuffling in the porridge line with Oliver Twist. I nannied. I worked at the Local Taco. I took jobs I found online for editing or writing copy.

Hardly anyone goes from realizing their dreams to discovering their calling to getting to do their perfect dream job.

I was hustling. And I had to. And I never would have been able to make it, doing what I do now, what I love, if I hadn’t worked hard at those jobs that weren’t my calling.

You’ve got to be brave enough to be faithful, even when you don’t want to be. You’ve got to be brave to work hard now for a payoff that won’t come until later. But it is so worth it!

BE BRAVE: Do something at your job today that takes a little courage. Suggest a new idea. Try something creative. Speak to someone you usually avoid.