GPS: DESTINATION – CAREER by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  Wouldn’t that be great if we came into this world with a tag that said what we will do when we grow up? “You’ll be a…Business owner, baseball player, schoolteacher, software engineer, police officer, fire fighter, EMT, pastor, missionary, doctor, nurse, lawyer, politician, writer, musician, singer, mechanic, welder, electrician, insurance salesman, and the list keeps going.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Instead, we must go through the first twenty years of our life, sometimes even more, just trying to figure out what we will do the rest of our time on this earth. Even then, sometimes we find ourselves doing something we don’t enjoy doing, and midway, we try to make a change in career. Some people even end their career hating it. Today is the second message in our series titled GPS: DESTINATION – CAREER. We’re going to answer questions like: How do you make a career choice? Which college should you apply to? Should you even go to college? Which job should you take? Should you start your own business? Are you in the right career? How do you know if you are in the wrong career? This may not apply to you, but God may want you to help someone who is struggling with these questions. Main Point: God has a specific plan for each of our lives. It’s in our submission to his Word and our daily walk with Christ that the Holy Spirit guides us into the career that brings him the most glory.

Proverbs 22:29 “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.”

Last week, we looked at the 3 approaches to discerning God’s will for our lives (See Douglas S. Huffman, ed., How Then Should We Choose? Three Views on God’s Will and Decision Making):

1. The Specific-Will View: It claims that “God not only has a specific will for individuals but also communicates that will to people so they can follow it” (Henry and Richard Blackaby). Using the GPS analogy, we called this the “turn-by-turn” view of discerning God’s will for our lives.

2. The Wisdom View: It claims that “the believer’s goal in non-commanded decisions is to make wise choices on the basis of spiritual usefulness” (Garry Friesen). Using the GPS analogy, we call this the “best option” view of discerning God’s will for our lives. 

3. The Relationship View: It claims that “Cultivating a relationship with Jesus involves and includes learning the art of decision making. We foster the capacity to discern well as an essential part of living in communion with the living Christ” (Gordon T. Smith). Using the GPS analogy, we call this the “local guide with us” view of discerning God’s will. 

As I mentioned last time, all 3 views are found in the Scriptures. The key is to know which view works with which category of decisions, which view fits better with which personality type, and which view is better for which stage of Christian maturity? (See Douglas Huffman).

This is a complicated topic, as we will see today, but there is one decision that is not complicated – it is the decision to be saved. Are you saved? You can make that decision now.

With that said, how do we choose a career according to God’s will?

I. Unless you have a clear calling (John the Baptist, Jesus), a safe place to begin is with the Wisdom view:

1. Work/Career is God’s gift, and it brings his blessings.
2. Ecclesiastes 2:24 “Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.”
3. Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave (Sheol) where you are going.”
4. Proverbs 6         6 “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, 8 Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. 9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.”
5. Challenge the wrong perspective on Work/Career:
6. Work was created by God.
   1. Genesis 2:2 “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”
   1. Genesis 2:15 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
7. No work is perfect because of sin.
8. Genesis 3      17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it’: ‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground…”
9. God blesses good and honest work.
10. Psalm 128         1 “Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. 2 When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.”
11. Proverbs 10        4 “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. 5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.”
12. Proverbs 11:18 “The wicked man does deceptive work, But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.”
13. Proverbs 13:4 “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.”
14. Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.”
15. Proverbs 22:29 “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.”
16. 2 Thessalonians 3       10 “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.”
17. All work must be done unto the Lord.
    1. Colossians 3        23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

II. To know God’s specific will for your work/career, the next step is the Specific Will view and the Relationship view (there are overlaps with the Wisdom view):

1. Seek God’s Guidance:
2. Read his Word and pray daily.
   1. Joshua 1         7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
3. Daily Submit to God’s Will.
   1. Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
   1. Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
4. Identify the talents, academic aptitude, and natural leanings God has given you:
   1. Psalm 139:14 “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”
   1. Acts 13:36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep…”
   1. Jeremiah 1        4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
   1. Esther 4:14 “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
   1. I grew up in a home that valued education. Wrong example: Friend in college who wanted to be a missionary because he loved the outdoors!
5. Recognize the Spiritual Markers in your life.

• For me, it was my early salvation, dedication at the big revival, baptism, crisis, rededication, meeting Nicole’s dad, the call, etc.
• Recognize God’s confirmation of his calling.
• through Circumstances
• through godly counsel
• Ultimately, don’t decide out of anger, frustration, discouragement, or fear.
  • Philippians 4        6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
  • Example of Biddy Chambers: Her stenographic skills were amazing (250 words per minute). She thought that she would be a secretary to the British Prime Minister. Instead, she became the wife of college professor and a YMCA chaplain. God was preparing her to put together “My Utmost for His Highest.”
  • Don’t let desolation or consolation be your guide (Ignatius of Loyola).

III. Follow Christ one step at a time. Be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

• John 14       16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
  • The test is a transformed character and joy (John Wesley). Even peace must be tested. Remember Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Invitation: What is God calling you to do? Have you responded to his call to be saved?