There will be times in your life when you must stick with a job long past what you think is fair or reasonable. When faced with tough, long jobs your character will be built, for better or worse. In God’s economy being a janitor is not lowly nor is being a CEO high and mighty. He has a job for you right now.
The job you are fulfilling right now might be a drudgery, and you can’t see the end or pay off. Motherhood is often a time of challenge because to do it right, you must set aside many of your own desires and even needs. You really can’t have it all. And, honestly, it’s not “all good.”
What is your attitude toward a thankless, tiresome job?
Will you continue to give it your best, show up looking your best with a good attitude?
Will you pout, demand a promotion, and make everyone around you miserable?
Nehemiah is an Old Testament character who illustrates the right attitude toward work that is difficult and long. God called him to lead the rebuilding of the wall around the city of Jerusalem. It was a huge job, and many people either didn’t care about the wall or saw its completion as a threat.
When some men who wanted to see the work stop kept attempting to distract Nehemiah and get him sidetracked, he said, “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you”(6:3)?
Where God has you working right now is important: school, motherhood, training, tough marriage, menial job, etc. You may have to endure disappointment or even anger from those who attempt to distract you. Some of them are well meaning and simply don’t want you to suffer. Some feel convicted by your hard work while they are not doing the work God has given them.
Working for God means you are at his service without judgment of the task or time. He may ask you to do some pretty nasty jobs, without praise from people. He may take you from a place of plenty to one of little.
He’s your creator and gets to do that. He’s building your character, preparing you for eternity. That’s hard to get a hold of.
Your time on this earth is just a blip, even if you live 100 years. The average life span of an American woman is 86 years if born in 2000. Go to the Social Security Administrations Life Expectancy Calculator to learn more.