Getting A Better Job – Or Doing A Better Job?
Oct 26, 2015 – Robert J. Tamasy
When you have a job you enjoy, regardless of where you fit on the organizational chart or the rung you occupy on the corporate ladder, going to work is a pleasure. You arise in the morning eager to return to the workplace, enthused about opportunities and challenges you will be facing
But what if you have a job you do not like? What if your job is 1) boring, 2) not challenging, 3) too stressful, 4) not financially rewarding, or 5) not fulfilling? In that case, awakening and thinking about going to work is not welcomed – it is something you dread. You find yourself drawn to the “greener grass” on the other side of the fence, or staring out the office window imagining what it would be like working somewhere else with a better working environment, greater compensation and benefits, or more appreciation from your superiors.
Sometimes such feelings are an indication the time has come to update your resume, polish your interviewing skills, and begin to explore other opportunities. However, what if the timing is not right? What if the job market is tight and chances of finding a better job are very slim? Have you no choice but to “grin and bear it,” as they say, resigning yourself to workdays filled with misery and frustration?
The late Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, a businessman, author and highly engaging motivational speaker, addressed this dilemma when he offered this observation: “Don’t try to get a better job; do a better job. Do a better job and you will have a better job!”
This advice seems to run counter to logic: If we do not like our work, how can we pursue it with passion and excellence? But in reality it makes excellent sense. If we resolve to do our best, our “utmost,” then we might be surprised to discover how much a seemingly bad situation can improve.
I can think of several times during my career when my “season” seemed to be drawing to close where I was working, yet I had no other job options and knew simply quitting my job made no sense. I could have let discontent take over and settle for doing substandard work, but one Bible verse helped to keep me focused. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). As I meditated on that passage, I was reminded that ultimately my “boss” was God, not the person sitting in the CEO’s office.
Here is more advice Bible gives about how to deal with less-than-ideal job situations:
Remain faithful, no matter what. Nearly everyone can excel when job conditions are optimal, but sometimes we are tested by God to see how diligent and reliable we choose to be where we are before He moves us to a new assignment. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10).
Do all you can where you are. Sometimes we conjure grandiose visions of what we could do for God if only we were somewhere else. But as someone wisely observed, “If we are not willing to serve God where we are, how can we serve Him where we are not?” Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
