Living My Faith

I decided to follow Jesus over 28 years ago out of career frustration. Even though I make a decent living, I’ve never done a good job of meeting or exceeding my expectations. I seem to be consistently unhappy. It’s been a big problem in my life.

My frustration from my job caused me to examine what church was all about. Through that search, I found a new life and a new way of living by following Jesus. Even though I don’t consider myself a follower, I know I want to follow Him. In most everything else, I want to lead.

But God refused to get me out of the job situations that caused me to search for Him in the first place. When I worked for my dad, I realized because of the nature of the logistics industry at the time, my dad’s competitors would never hire me. (I do acknowledge that I was some degree unemployable, but they also didn’t want their competitor’s kid knowing their business.) Unhappy in my job, but with little in the way of options, first, I found and decided to follow Jesus, and years later, I quit my job just to look for work and do freelance computer programming.

Fast forward through another dozen companies and 20 or so bosses, and I still wrestle with being happy at work, doing my best, and trusting God. I’ve learned I work for God… I’m assigned to an employer. My job is connected to the work God has been doing since the beginning of time. I’m helping God restore a relationship with anyone who wishes one.

Therefore I believe living my faith daily means I need to do 4 things to be in a position to take part in the action whenever God is working with someone I know or contact:

First, I should ask God to make me aware of opportunities. God is busy and working and I just need to see the chances I get to participate in the work.

Second I want to know what I believe and be able to tell someone else about faith in Jesus without quoting the bible or my pastor. My faith needs to be my own, reasoned and explainable.

Third, I need to serve others. I should get outside of my job description. This isn’t easy, but it most often is the way things happen. The opportunities God creates often look like service.

Fourth, I need to speak for myself. As I live my faith, and do it for my own reasons, and as I serve others, I may get the opportunity to speak. I don’t need to sound like a preacher or a politician, but I need to present my faith as my own. That’s the only way I’ve found where I can talk about my faith without offending others.

When I do these 4 things, I believe I live my faith. Yes, I struggle with checking in every day and living transparently, without hypocrisy. Each day is another try, another chance to make a difference instead of simply making a living.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll share more about each of the 4 actions above. I hope you’ll join me and find more ways to daily live your faith too.

What do you think? Do you believe I’m making this too simple, or too hard? Do you think I’m crazy to believe I can take part in the work God is doing? Take a minute and comment below. Thanks in advance.

Note: I’m in the process of starting an online community of people who help one another live their faith everyday. If you would like to learn more, contact me and let me know. Thanks.

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