Prepared to Use the Gifts God Gave Them
A young college educated friend has shared his career struggles recently. For a while, he worked in sales of an essential building material. Feeling a sense of shame because it was not the career in the helping profession he had prepared for and done before, he tried that profession again. He wanted very much for it to work, but after a year, he felt he couldn’t take it anymore.
Now he has decided to go back to sales in the building trade and also to work toward becoming a union electrician. He said that he has realized that helping people with electricity and building is also a helping profession, just as admirable as any other career.
This is what I told my friend:
I applaud you for having the courage to do work that helps people in practical ways. I am very grateful for all of the people who help Ray and me keep our 180-year-old house running and have done so for the last 21 years. Be encouraged by 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and Proverbs 22:29. What a way to let your light shine for God. Bravo! (I have quoted those passages at the end of this post.)
I also assured him that work that is honorable should be respected. God is no respecter of persons, and we shouldn’t be either.
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said,
Of a truth I perceive that
God is no respecter of persons . . .
Acts 10:34 King James Version
Opening his mouth, Peter said:
“I most certainly understand now that
God is not one to show partiality . . .
Acts 10:34 New American Standard Version (1995)
I feel very strongly about this issue. I started to add “for young people” to the end of that sentence but changed my mind. I feel strongly about this issue for everyone. How many people have left college with tremendous debt while being poorly prepared to earn a living and experience joy in their work? How many children have experienced their parents’ disapproval because they are working in a career that their parents believe is beneath them?
Praise God that you can know your children so well that your parenting and teaching prepare them to use the gifts that God has given uniquely to them. Praise God, too, for the doctors and nurses who help with our health, the workers (like my dad) who put groceries on shelves, the farmers who raise our food, the plumbers who fix our pipes, the electricians who wire our houses, the fishermen who catch our tuna, the bankers who handle our savings, the carpenters who repair our homes, the policemen who respond to our emergencies . . . Of course, I could go on.
After you enjoy these historic photos of workers from the 20th century, I’ll share the passages I used to encourage my young friend.
George Hutton with his tractor, June 1940,
photo by Lee Russell
New York policeman, May 1943,
Photo by Gordon Parks
Carpenter, May 1923
Trash collectors, March 1983,
photo by Thomas J. O’Halloran
Proprietor of a small grocery store
near New Iberia, Louisiana, October 1938,
photo by Russell Lee
Plumber cutting pipe in Greenbelt, Maryland,
August 1936, photo by Carl Mydans
Private Ed A. Proudfoot, electrician
with a mobile unit of the 25th service group,
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Air Service Command,
July 1943, photo by Jack Delano
Fisherman in Provincetown, Massachusetts,
August 1940, photo by Edwin Rosskam
Woman studying to be an electrician
at the war training school in Orange, Texas,
May 1943, photo by John Vachon
Dr. Gerald A. Duffy and Dr. S. Yamada
perform an emergency appendectomy
at the Granada Relocation Center
in Amache, Colorado, December 1943,
photo by Thomas W. Parker
Woman working on an airplane motor
at North American Aviation, Inc. plant
in California, June 1942, photo by Alfred T. Palmer
. . . make it your ambition
to lead a quiet life
and attend to your own business
and work with your hands,
just as we commanded you . . .
1 Thessalonians 4:11
Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men.
Proverbs 22:29