What to Do When God Blesses Your Career but It Does Not Meet Your Expectations
"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." – Proverbs 16:9 ESV
Throughout your career you may have wondered if you made the right choice regarding your field or employer. This thought and the emotions associated with it are not always great to experience - especially if you were believing that God would bless you without having to burden a toxic work environment, a bad manager, limited career development, or minimum work life balance. Many of us professionals have been in this position. We prayed and fasted, put in the necessary work, and had faith for something that we thought would take our career to the next level. But once our perception turned into a false reality, we quickly tried to mitigate the hand we were dealt, but often, our decisions were based on our own desires instead of what God wanted for us.
If you ever find yourself in this circumstance, I challenge you to remember the reasons why you prayed for the opportunity, and understand what God is trying to communicate to you before seeking your own solution.
As you process this, here are two things to keep in mind about our Father.
He is intentional (Jeremiah 29:11). God does not bless us with a vision or place us in environments if they do not align with His will for our lives (Psalm 16:9). Even if we assume that we’ve checked every box to get to the next level in our career, God will let us know if we’re not ready by directing us towards an alternative path from what we expected. For instance, what if you put in an immense amount of effort and time to master your current role, took initiative when no one else on your team stepped up, and proved repeatably that you are an asset to the organization. Now, you’re believing to finally lead your own team, but there is just one issue; you lack patience with others. God recognizes this flaw and decides to bless you with another opportunity to help you master this skill. You must realize that God will not take you to the finish line without making sure you’re fully prepared in his’ eyes. Elevation is rooted in progress.
God is also a protector (Psalm 18:2). Sometimes, we dwell on, what we would consider, “missed opportunities” because we presumed that they would have been beneficial to our career and/or lifestyle. What we don’t realize is how God shielded us from receiving them because he knew the negative outcomes behind each door. For example, there could’ve been a time when you had faith for a role at another company, but God blocked you from receiving the job because he was protecting you from the upcoming layoffs that would’ve eliminated your position. When similar circumstances fall through, we typically become upset and make statements claiming it’s the company loss for not hiring us or how a certain person stole the role we were going for without having context on how God was protecting us. Let’s also look at this hypothetical from another lens. He could’ve simply ordained the position for someone else and has something different prepared for you. That simple.
Stepping back to understand how your current position aligns with his purpose for your life could help you put things into perspective.
I’ll provide an example from my career journey.
While in college, I worked for a well-established retailer and fulfilled my responsibilities from the company’s corporate office as a customer relations specialist. I was majoring in marketing, and my goal was to secure a position on their marketing team upon earning my degree. I networked, built relationships, and the leaders knew my plans. Simultaneously, I was fasting and asking God for an opportunity to learn from the best digital marketers and to ensure that the role was a steppingstone since I wanted to advance in my career.
Well, a digital marketing job became available, and I was certain the position was meant for me. My ego was activated, and I knew I did everything right prior to interviewing for the role. I even classified the position as the steppingstone that I needed to jumpstart my career, but after interviewing, I was later informed that the team hired someone else and was not looking to expand the marketing team anytime soon. I was devastated and worried that I blew my shot at securing a job - in my field - after graduating. I still had faith that something would come through, but I was nervous about when it would happen. I didn’t realize that God’s plan for me was much bigger than what the company could offer.
After 2 months, post-graduation, God answered my prayers. He blessed me with a great opportunity at a Fortune 500 company practicing category marketing. It was the steppingstone that I needed to kick off my career, and my leaders were experts in the field like I prayed. Often, my counterparts and I were told that if we mastered our roles we could dominate in any industry because not many companies offered the level of training that we received. I was a sponge soaking up every bit of knowledge available to me, even things outside of marketing. On the flip side, the office was in a small town and was over 1,000 miles away from my home. I was one of a handful of black people in the office, the culture was toxic, and my former boss was not an array of sunshine. I was blessed with what I prayed for, but I was unhappy during my time of employment. Also, since this was the beginning stage of my career, I wasn’t seeking God first. In attempts to solve majority of my work problems, I acted through my flesh and not the Holy Spirit. I was trying my best to leave, my attitude was not great, and I questioned my career choice and God every day.
Fast forward, after I started a new role at another company, it dawned on me that my skillset was more advanced than some of my new counterparts, and my learnings from my first role helped me leverage myself as an asset. Now looking back and understanding how God operates, I recognize and appreciate how each opportunity, throughout my career journey, prepared me for the next role and ultimately molded me into the professional that I am today. Many of my circumstances were not ideal, but if I knew then what I know now, I would’ve handled my first role much differently.
So, if you take anything away from this read, remember that we always have two options. We can operate in the flesh or through the Holy Spirit when faced with challenges and uncertainties throughout our career. It’s easy to give into our own thoughts to mitigate our problems instead of gravitating to the One who favored us with the blessing. Sometimes we (me included) forget that God is working behind the scenes for our own good. So, when you are put in challenging circumstances at work it’s important to draw near to him first so he can reveal your path and provide direction (Prov. 3:5-6). Seek him and let him know your challenges. Ask him to guard your heart, to increase your discernment/wisdom, and to give you strength to execute his plans without being influenced by what’s going on around you. Give him the opportunity to answer your prayers and work on your behalf before doing something out of His will.
You will start to discover what you should retain and who you’ll need to connect with in the organization, what resources you should leverage that the company offers, and what personal development skills you need to master before God elevates you to the next level. He’ll also let you know when it’s time to leave. If you know in your heart that God ordained this opportunity for you and this is not your doing, then know that you are in your position for a reason. While it is easier said than done, it is always rewarding in the end because you are fulfilling His divine will.
