Diamond or Coal?

I once again want to speak on the idea of "WHAT IS OCCUPATION" and how do you know what is  the right fit for you.  1st of all I just want to point out that the notion of a safe and secure position is under attack in the eyes of most people.  The funny thing is, it was a false assumption to begin with.  The reason I say this is because every private sector job available in the United States is the vision, blood, sweat, and tenacity of some individual who took a courageous chance.


So your safe and secure job is built on someone else's insecure business idea.  There were many cultures throughout history where the notion of a great paying job, with full benefits and a great retirement plan never existed.  People lived and many of those people trusted in God and even left legacies for their families without all of the "cushion" we are used to here in the States.  Its interesting how people who lose a job will suddenly beg and plead for God to move on their behalf to get them another job.  The job as we know it is disappearing, the good benefits are becoming too expensive for many sectors of employment to handle.  I truly understand the natural feeling of wanting safe and security, I understand the sigh of relief when you get a job and the feeling of "knowing" you have a check coming in consistently, but I feel this way of thinking is a slap in the face of God.  Why?  Because God is our provider and not the jobs we work at.  We need to be more focused on following God, and not what is status quo.


Too often too many people quit doing the very things they should be doing they are presented with opportunities to do wonderful things, but they quit before the blessing is realized.  All great dealings come with a price the doer must pay, but most people are not willing to pay that price.  This is usually because it is usually uncomfortable or mentally stressful to the self of the individual.  Many could actually change the lives of hundreds, thousands, or even  millions of people for the better, but because it causes a lot of discomfort in the process, they cut their own blessings short.

Symbol that means serving or helping

So my question to you is, what is God really calling you to do?  Many are called to do things that don't come with a preset schedule or consistent paycheck amounts.  Our occupation should not be, simply what we want to do, but what God wants us to do.  There is a level of faith we will never achieve if we choose not to follow God's direction.  The blessing of this recession is that it will force people to really listen to what God is telling them to do, inspire then to do it, and even empower them to stick with it til the end. 

Be blessed
E Hailey

William Shakespeare said"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them."  In a sense you can say that some are afraid to try because they are afraid to fail, but many are also afraid of dealing with the accolades of greatness.  In this day and age we are freely given access to all sorts of vices from various areas for being "a star" in some subculture in the world.  Worst yet, there is much uneasiness to content with in the management of personal pride and selfish lust.  I have been in situations where I felt that certain opportunities were lay out before me and I ran because I didn't trust myself to deal with it properly.  We all have your bents and temptation come in many forms, but I want to turn toward a different slant.  When it comes to greatness, most of us have it wrong.  Jesus hung around with some guys who felt the same way about greatness: 

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, ^(O)bowing down and making a request of Him.
 ²¹And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left."

You can't blame her, she wanted to make sure her sons would have a best place in God's kingdom.  The problem is that we look at greatness as a setting apart and above in stature of the person who has achieved greatness.  Many people feel this way, and it is one of the reasons I feel that the Bible is not written by the sole mind of men, but men under the influence of God.  

²⁵But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
 ²⁶"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
 ²⁷and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
 ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."


Many times we look down on ourselves because we can't do the things that the "greats" do, we even feel that there are a limited number of slots for greatness and seek to push others aside who we feel are obstacles hindering our rise to prominence.  We see this as backstabbing from co-workers and associates in various organizations.  The sad thing is that it also is happening in churches and ministries here in the US.  However if we only understand what Jesus is saying we will realize that there is plenty of space in the world available for great people, as a matter of fact I would say that there is just enough space to everyone to be great, it is sad that so many will not take the chance.  Don't we understand that in the service of the King and the King's children, there are feats of heroism and bravery worthy of praise.   Service is and occupation we all need to add to our resumes.

Thinking outside the box IS thinking.

If you've ever been the type to look at the status quo and realize that it's just not designed for you, then I am talking to you.  There is a lot of hype that floats around the media, and in churches, and through out the various expectations of parents and family that tells us we should "get and education," "get a job," and then run that play until it's time to retire.  Until recently, it seems, things in the economy could support such ideals.  Actually however, there have been many times where the economy has been telling us that such a structure of life is not as iron clad as many have preached.  In fact America is one of the few places that it did work out for a time, yet it never worked out for all the people who ran that play all the time.  So not it should be no doubt that such a plan is viable for an adult who plans on taking care of a family, or being a substantial giver towards the ills that are affecting the less fortunate, and especially to those who are looking to leave a legacy (something I will address more in the future) for their family. 

Before there were automobiles people when from place to place on wagons of various kinds being pulled by a horse or team or horses.  Sometime they would just ride the horses back.  For centuries history records the wealthy riding the backs of the poor.  Some slaves, some indentured servants, some employees.  Some of the most magnificent structures and society benefiting engines of industry have been the brainchild of a few, and the sweat, blood, and lives of many.  It is the structure of a slave labor economy of agriculture, child labor economy of service industry, the poor immigrant labor of the industrial age, the illegal-alien/migrant  labor economy of business, and the blue/white collar corporate structure.

I feel that God has not developed an economy of perceived safety in jobs as we now them in the US, God allows economies and ask those who call and look to in Him to have faith and trust that He will provide regardless of the economy we live in. Connect FOUR OCCUPATION is about looking outside of the AMERICAN DREAM box, and really thinking about what God wants us to be doing.  Understanding what is our true VOCATION and trusting God to provide as we pursue successful service within it.