HOW CAREER CHOICES CAN AFFECT YOUR LIFE AND WALK WITH GOD.
“This is the family history of Noah. Noah was a good man, the most innocent man of his time, and he walked with God. Noah did everything that God commanded him.”
Genesis 6:9, 22 NCV
In today’s world we hear of so many families being separated because of the choice of work. Women walking out on their families because of career choices. People moving out of the fellowship in the body of Christ because of the choice of career.
I recently came across a sister who loved her teaching profession so much that when her husband wanted her to leave the job so that they could have children. She could never let go of it. She chose to remain barren than leave the job and eventually the family came to the verge of separation. Another young man started to play music in a church band slowly he started playing for the worldly music saying career is different from my belief and now is playing in bars and night clubs which entertain people while they drink and eventually it destroyed his family. But then I also came across a young career women who decided to step out of a lucrative business to take care of her family which was in the verge of separation and inspite of the lack of resources. God healed the family and restored the family and met all their needs. So it really got me thinking.
Let us see how career choices can affect your whole life from the life of Noah.
Then the Lord said to Noah, “I have seen that you are the best person among the people of this time, so you and your family can go into the boat.”
Genesis 7:1 NCV
What a way for God to describe a man. He was literally hand picked by God. He was directed in the ways of God. He was called the best by God. I don’t remember God calling anyone else the best person. Noah was one man who pleased God.
Now Noah was walking with God. He was an architect, builder and he was working on building a boat for almost 3 years. In fact at a point he was in full time ministry as a preacher ( 2 Peter 2:5) and just got 7 people saved.
Then he went into the boat as God had led him. Now he was working as a full time zoo keeper quite literally. Managing all the animals and taking care of their needs. Once the flood was over. He came out and now again he had an option to choose his career.
He had so many options before him. So many careers. He could have asked God, but the Bible says “Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard.”
Genesis 9:20 NCV
But this choice or career made him take some very wrong choices in his life. His career started to affect what he ate, his walk with God, his habits, his family. We see in previous chapters that Noah walked with God, he worshipped God,( Genesis 8:20). He pleased God with his sacrifice. he had an agreement with God for all generations which God still keeps after so many thousands of years. Now God wanted Noah not to work but to have more children and rest ( Gen 9:7).
But then we see him choosing to become a farmer. He planted a vineyard and I am not sure it was under God’s guidance so eventually his job gave him the opportunity to get drunk and when he was drunk he lay naked in front of his children. He exposed himself and one thing led to another and he went on to curse his own son. Which became a generational curse. ( Genesis 8:25). So much of chaos would have ensued in his family because of his choice of career. I am sure there was a lot of heart break in the family after Noah’s curse on his own son, which we don’t read in the Bible.
As you read this my friend I want you to pause and consider. Has your career choice been ordained by God? Is your career choice making you sin in some way or the other. Is it making you take decisions that would hurt God and the family around you. Is your career making you a grumpy, angry dad or mom due to the pressure at work or situations at work keep you away from God. Is it making you not walk with God to where in once you had walked with God, heard His voice and was led by him in every decision. Now the only time you have is to eat, sleep, wake up, work and repeat.
You might say my career is my career and my life is life the two don’t mix. My walk with God will not be affected by my career. No it will be, do not fool yourself. Before it’s too late and you make unwise decisions in your family and life, Stop and listen to what the Spirit of God is saying. Make a conscious choice to choose the right career under the direction of God that will bless your walk with God and help you be more loving and available to your family. It is not about success and money and fame in the end of the day it is about your relationship with God that matters. The word of God says “but remember the Lord your God! It is he who gives you the power to become rich, keeping the agreement he promised to your ancestors, as it is today.”
Deuteronomy 8:18 NCV
No matter how much job satisfaction you have or what a high post you hold or the huge pay check you draw that you can fund your entire family. It’s not worth it.
Career choices are important because your work impacts your walk with God. If you are like Daniel, a slave in a foreign land but you have the grit to talk to your superiors about your convictions and be thrown into a lions den because of your walk with God. I salute you but if not, if you have to make small compromises of having a small glass of wine for society, a little flirt here and there or to play music to a tune dedicated to the demons. It must not be worth it. Farming was not a bad career like prostitution but for Noah it led to drunkenness. What is your seemingly innocent career leading you to.
Let this be a prayer in your heart. “God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me on the road to everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:23-24 NCV
Amen.
