Can You Idolize Your Career?
I care too much about what people think.
For years, I was stuck on the idea of what I wanted to be in life. I constantly felt the pressure to become known for something. God has me on a very peculiar path, and somehow, I remain driven by insecurity to establish myself. The idea of people passing judgment on me, thinking to themselves, “Here she goes again, off to do something else and fail at it.” The only reason I pursued a career was to please people who didn’t even know me.
This has been a major hindrance to my purpose.
I didn’t know which career path to take, but it was clear that my parents wanted me to pursue something traditional. Both of them are college graduates and have worked in their respective fields for decades. My older brother and sister both attended college, and my sister is now a certified Physical Therapist. As the youngest, I always felt pressured to follow in my family’s footsteps, but I struggled to adapt to the traditional route. I always saw things differently. I was an innovator, and creativity was my driving force. I used my twenties as the time to figure out what I wanted to do through numerous attempts at different ventures. I worked in customer service, the food industry, grocery stores, medical offices, churches, retail, and most recently, an engineering company. Still, I wasn’t satisfied!
I’ve known my whole life that I was destined for something different. I worked various odd jobs, only to realize I wanted more for myself. That "more" was incredibly difficult to discover. When social media took off, I was exposed to endless possibilities. It also created a deep sense of comparison. I went from attending community college for Business Administration to taking Medical Billing and Coding classes at tech schools, and finally, to Entrepreneurship. I worked most of those jobs to make my parents happy. Yes having a job pays the bills but I knew corporate wasn’t where I was supposed to be.
Everything changed when I got serious about building my relationship with God.
My mind opened to a whole new world, now with His help. He revealed my purpose and guided me toward various endeavors. These experiences allowed me to see the vision He had for my life: Entrepreneurship and ownership. The way God transformed my view on “becoming” helped me understand what I truly wanted to be. However, the pathway was unconventional and non-traditional, which didn’t make sense to my family and friends.
God truly does work all things together for our good.
It took me a while to fully embrace and accept the call on my life as an Entrepreneur/Creative. I knew I had gifts and talents but didn’t have a blueprint for accessing opportunities. There are times when I will enter seasons of not having a stable job and its benefits and would have to rely on my faith alone. God specifically chose this life for me, and I became very uncomfortable. I’d run back to the stability of a good job in a heartbeat when things seem to not be working out. The thing about this type of path and lifestyle is that you’re entrusted with a vision that only God can bring to life, not you. It requires you to literally walk by faith and not by sight. That means that when God instructs you to stop pursuing something and doesn’t give you the next steps, you have to go with it and trust him.
Since then, I’ve entered my thirties with vision while it seemed like everyone around me settled for safe, traditional careers. This is the norm! The traditional route offers stability, while my specific career path demands faith. I wrestled with God after fully giving my life to Him. I often wondered why I had to take this particular route and endure struggle, taking years and years to decide what I wanted to be in life. I am constantly hit with the pressure to become known for something and God recently revealed this to me. God has me on a very peculiar path, and somehow, I am still tempted with insecurities to become established.
This is only because I have a lingering fear of rejection and judgment. I care about what others think. It’s a part of the human experience, but when you give God full control over your career, he has the final say. Nothing that anyone says about your choices and pursuits matters. The path God takes us on has everything to do with His plan for our lives, not anyone else’s. It’s taken me a while to understand this, but I’m getting there. I am slowly coming out of agreement with other people’s suggestions and advice when it comes to my career path. I’ve seen God bless me with jobs only to sharpen me and develop the vision he’s given me.
Don’t get me wrong, Corporate life isn’t bad. It’s just not for everybody!
The path that God needs me on will lead to fulfillment, and all that he’s promised me, but the temptation of stability and establishment will always be there to knock you off the path. Especially when you spend most of your time on social media. When you are distracted by what others are doing, pursuing, and becoming, you start to second-guess the vision and path that God has given you. This, my friend, creates idolatry.
If you aren’t familiar with the term “idolatry,” simply google it while also spending time in the bible. Throughout scripture, we see many cultures follow religious practices that glorify false gods that cater to your desires and comfortabilities. God’s design was for us to live to serve and please him, which doesn’t always include what makes us comfortable or satisfied. People constantly put their own needs and desires above God’s, and they end up empty and unfulfilled every time. Anything you value or put before God is definitely an idol, and my need for a stable career was one of mine.
This is not to say that God doesn’t want any of us to have a stable career path. I’m simply explaining how my desire to have stability led me in a direction God never intended for me to go. It also delayed me years of being able to live to my full purpose. Everyone isn’t meant to be an Entrepreneur or have a huge calling in their lives, so career paths are necessary. However, imagine God requires you to spend time with you in the mornings but you decide to use that time to work in your career. God might require you to move to another state and pursue another career path. Would you do it? Or would you ignore the instructions due to your comfort in your current role at work? Would that be considered idolatry?
When we are moved by status, comfort, stability, and promotion in our career paths, we flirt with idolatry. Be open to how God wants to move in your career path whether it makes sense or not. Since leaving my stable corporate job, I’ve tapped into a new level of creativity and innovation and it’s all because of God’s doing. I am proud to say that I am no longer moved by stability and corporate benefits. I am finally where I NEED to be!