Recently, God's been teaching me a lesson on perspective. His perspective versus ours. I'll admit it... I'm often one to focus on the rip in the silver lining (*grin*), so this is an interesting, painful and tedious lesson to unravel.
I would be curious to know your thoughts on this. How do we differentiate God teaching us through adversity (while working toward a goal) versus God presenting adversity to steer us away to another path?
Let me present a hypothetical example: You work at Wal-Mart. You enjoy working at Wal-Mart and have peace in feeling like you are meant to be there. You might even say that you feel called to work for Wal-Mart and believe that you are well suited for work at the customer service counter (though you currently work in the warehouse). Of the 5 or 6 people you began your employment with, 4 of them have since moved on to be customer service workers... seemingly with little effort... while you remain in the warehouse having been passed over 4 or 5 times.
Would you say that A) God is protecting you from being in customer service, even though you believe that's where you should be, B) God is refining something in you to better prepare you for your customer service roll, C) God has nothing to do with it... try harder or D) some other answer?
Obviously, this is NOT my situation, nor are the answers I presented the only way of looking at things... I just thought it would be interesting to hear how you all would reconcile the situation.
Let me know your thoughts!
In Him,
Jim
- Jim Coates
- Marion, Iowa
- Christian, Husband, Father of 5, Musician, Worship Leader, Software Engineer
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7 comments:
Hey Jim!
I think it could be A, B, or D. I'm not sure if C is viable... God is sovereign, so He always has something to do with it, if only to allow it to happen.
I don't know if He always reveals which one it may be. In the end, it may come down to what my husband calls "sanctified instinct." To use your scenario...
I think you have to try to look at your own heart as honestly as you can, and ask WHY you want the promotion. Are your motives pure? Is it mammon worship, or pride, or power, that are motivating the desire to be out front with customers instead of behind the scenes in the warehouse?
Is everything right in your relationship with the Lord? If not, you may not be hearing Him so well.
Probably next would be assessment by both yourself and others you trust... do you have the necessary skills to work at the customer service counter? Are you good with people, friendly? Can you handle complaint after complaint comin' atcha day after day? Have you asked the person in charge of promotions if there is a reason that you haven't been moved up? If you've asked, did you listen, and take steps to improve in areas where you are weak?
If you still feel called to customer service, and to Walmart, and others have affirmed that you have the skills, and your Walmart promotions man still tells you it's a nogo, then what should you do?
Probably it's time to pray, and have friends pray with you about it. In the end, you have to make a decision, stay, wait, or go.
Regardless of the road you choose, it's impossible for you to screw your life up so badly that God can't help you. He's good at getting us through. :-)
(Sorry that was kinda long!)
Great comments, Julie.
I echo much (if not all) of what you said, which actually is where part of my confusion comes from.
I'll explain more after I allow some others to chime in.
Thanks again!
In Him,
Jim
I was going to say more or less what Julie said I think. I believe God is usually a God of common sense in these scenarios - and common sense would be to take something like this up with the WH supervisor (or whomever is in charge of promotions) and ask why you seemingly have been overlooked, and what you need to do to be considered for the CS gig. As well as of course getting others opinions. Other than that, if you truly feel called to be at "Wal Mart" (heaven forbid!) then it's a matter of trusting that God has you in the right place for a reason and is keeping you there, and you need to be content and trust.
When I was doing the road rep thing for Karnes in Chicago, and I had just become a believer, I expressed over dinner one night to a mentor/believer friend of mine how much I sometimes resented calling on some of the band directors who were sometimes pretty lame to deal with in various ways and how grueling it could be trying to put up with it all. Here I was a pretty decent musician (with a bit of a chip on my shoulder of course coming right out of college!) and yet feeling as if I was in a position of being beneath these guys (and gals) I called on. My friend told me some very wise words saying "God obviously is teaching you to be a servant and humbling you through this." And he was exactly right. Gave me a whole new perspective.
Thanks, John.
Ya know... I'm sure there ARE people who feel called to work at Wal-Mart!!
Jim
ya, I apologize. I'm sure there are. In fact, I may be one of them before too long here!!
Warehouse or Customer Service? *grin*
Jim
However God leads! *grin*
I've been up at that Customer Service counter before - I'm not sure I'd want to deal with all they deal with! I'll settle for the night gig stocking shelves at this point.
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