Where does God want me to work?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Who do you want to be when you grow up?

Everyone needs a model to follow, and it's never too late to teach our children about the biblical principles
of work and stewardship of talents.
Our youth need to be brought up and instilled with the realization that they are uniquely created by God
and need to look prayerfully to Him for what His will is for their lives.
Four Tips for choosing your career:

Allow your Passion to become your Purpose. (Passion)

Research your Pathways. (Resources)

Partake. It’s necessary. (Gain/Share)

Pray about it. (Pray)

Allow your Passion to become your Purpose. (Passion)

Know yourself (Self-Awareness):

- Skills
- Values
- Personality
- Interests

Skills

"A set of achievements, understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain
employment and to be successful in their chosen occupations". Peter Knight & Mantz Yorke

Writing Analysing Planning Persuading & Negotiating Cooperating Scientific/Technical Creative Languages Practical

Values

Your values are those things in your life that you consider to be important. In relation to work, values are what
give purpose to a job in the eyes of the individual who does it. The effort, commitment and motivation that a
person brings to a job is usually in direct proportion to the values that they perceive in it. Another name sometimes
used for values is motivators.

Personality

Personality refers to the relatively enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another.

Most skills can be learned, but it is difficult to train people on their personality.

Interests

Your interests have already influenced many of the choices made in your life: your choice of A-level and degree
subjects or the ways in which you spend your spare time. For some people, an interest is of such importance in
their life that it is the main influence on their career choice.
"A degree can only reflect your mastery of an academic discipline and cannot shed light on your personal skills and
qualities. It's the person underneath that counts."

Enjoyable work is a key to contentment.

The servant of God can find some contentment by serving God, enjoying his family, being satisfied with the fruit of
his labor, and doing work he enjoys Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

The work doesn’t give meaning to a vain life but when we realize that work is not our life, just a part of it, we can
keep it in proper perspective and focus on living with God. Therefore, one should choose a career that he will enjoy
and that will allow him to serve God. Wise people have said, “Choose work that you enjoy and you will never have
to work a day in your life”.

Whose dream is it?

Sometimes parents will drive their children fulfill the dreams they didn’t pursue.

A father may have been a good athlete but didn’t play at the college or professional level and pushes his child to do
this. The child may want to please his father but does not have the heart for sports that his father did and will be
miserable playing. Some people, following the dreams of their parents, pursue careers as accountants, lawyers,
business owners, or other high profile jobs and are miserable because they wanted another career path.

If you are in this situation, discuss your dreams with your parents, be prepared to deal with the objections
mentioned in the last paragraph, and share the career path you want to pursue. With career, as with choosing
someone to marry, choose one that will help you serve God, draw closer to God, and live in godly contentment.

Research your Pathways. (Resource)

Location

You may choose a job that requires living in a certain region, or you may find that employment opportunities are
more plentiful in a particular part of the country.

Occupationism

“Occupationism” is a relatively new term used to describe an age-old concept: discriminating against someone
based on their career.

Lifestyle

Is life—work balance important to you? If so, do some preliminary research. Find out what the industry standards
are, as well as what people on the ground are experiencing.

Economic and social conditions of life

Sometimes we can’t choose the society in which we have to live, but we can choose the way of life.

Proverbs 24:27

Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

Follow your dreams — within reason

Partake. It’s necessary. (Gain/Share)

Gain

Aspire to financial independence

Working hard to achieve financial independence is the pleasant reward for hard work. You’ll probably have to live
without many luxuries but you can have your independence.

Work to develop full financial independence even though it will mean that you won’t have these luxuries you have
come to enjoy.

Earning Potential

You may find one aspect of your career is more financially rewarding than another.

Your personal financial needs are also likely to influence the career choices you make.

For the Christian, work of any kind done well is its own reward

Give

What value do you provide to an employer?

“I want a job that will help me…” should be replaced with statements that indicate how you hope to use your skills
to help the employer accomplish his goals. Your success will come when you help your organization be successful
or bring value to others.

Let your light must shine in the workplace

Proverbs 28:19

Christians should have a reputation for responsible and diligent work.

 Proverbs 21:5, 25 – Purposeful progression without irresponsible choices

 Proverbs 15:19 – Hard work is a highway to success

 Ecclesiastes 9:10 – Work hard at whatever you find to do

It is doing the little work effectively that paves the way for you to be given greater work.

Use the money you earn to honor God

The purpose of your career is to allow you to serve God and take care of your family not feed selfish desires or
serve only your needs.

Proverbs 3:9-10

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth,

with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Pray about it.

Ask the Father for help and he’ll show you. You may be really scared or doubting yourself. The
Bible is filled with many stories of people who were given an assignment/job and completely
doubted themselves. Exodus 3.
Stories like this were not included in the Bible to make us feel good about how confident we are
by comparison. Actually, these show us that even when we are filled with doubt and uncertainty,
God can lead us to our answer anyway

Proverbs 16:3 ESV / 267 helpful votes

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 19:21 ESV / 212 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV / 22 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his
covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.