One thing I love about having a blog is the opportunity to share the stories of others as well as my own. I learn a lot about God from witnessing or reading about another’s relationship with Him or how their experience of life differs from mine. Thus, Perspectives was born.

Read the first one, Moms, God and a Pandemic, here.

For this post, I asked friends this question:

What have you learned about God through your job? And, what is a joy or challenge (or both) to being a Christ-follower in your work atmosphere?

“Being a nurse has brought many challenges, some good and some hard. God has been so good to me and has given me a job that I can use to glorify him as I help in assisting to bring new life into this world. I find myself going to him many times through out my day asking for advice, asking for patience, wisdom and peace. As a nurse in a high risk unit of labor and delivery, days can be very busy, filled with adrenaline and can be very intense. I have found myself asking God to intervene in situations and even crying out for help in the most desperate of times. In many ways I am thankful to have a job where I do work alongside some believers. In a field where a lot of people don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, it is very easy to spot those that do. It gives me encouragement and comfort to work alongside other believers who have the same mindset. Most importantly, God has taught me to trust him in all things, good, bad, hard, exciting. His plan and will are much larger than mine, and I am just a piece in his much larger picture. My life as a nurse is a journey filled with excitement and challenges, and I am grateful for the opportunity!” Hannah T.

“My secular job is working as a public servant and I definitely feel like I have learned more about the Lord’s patience. Working in a job where the whole point is to serve others, you definitely come across all different types of people and personalities, and sometimes you interact with stubborn and difficult people. You definitely have to be patient understanding. It has given me a whole new perspective on how the Lord deals with all of us when we tend to be difficult and stubborn! It’s a joy to be a Christ-follower in my work atmosphere because I work with a lot of people who either aren’t Christians or are only Christians nominally. I strive to be an example of Christ in everything I do in my everyday job although it’s not always easy. Working in a secular environment helps me keep myself in check whenever I get frustrated or angry at a situation and I have to remember how my fellow coworkers might look to me as an example of Christ. It’s definitely rewarding to have conversations with my non-Christian coworkers.” Emily H.

“I have learned through my job experience that He is always with me. Working as a Respiratory Therapist there were days I didn’t think I was going to make it through. I would close my eyes standing in the hallway and pray for His strength. I would experience such sadness on the job that my heart would physically hurt. I knew that I could not do my job without His prayer and guidance. God provides us with skills to use for His purpose. With this, I found Him by finding His strength to allow me to perform my job to the best of my ability to help save lives. I prayed with patients or to patients silently. I wanted every patient to know Him in some way and to know He is with them in the good and bad times. I would have very few good stories sometimes to tell my family about my work. In these moments I also found God. God showing me (as a patient’s caretaker) how miracles can happen. God works in every single one of us. I saw miracles in the sad times and with that I knew God with there through it all. The power of prayer is truly miraculous. I found much joy in knowing Christ working in the health care field. It gave me the opportunity to help spread His word and show His love and grace. It gave me happiness to know I was allowing God to use me for His benefit in all that I did. I did my job to honor Him. I found challenges in my job for sure. My work environment could be rough in some ways and I would allow negativity in my mind. I would lose myself in the sadness and it became hard to remember why I was there. God’s presence got me through many trials, and He was with me through every heart break and miracle I experienced. God has encouraged me by reminding me of my purpose. I was beginning to lose myself in the job and become too busy for Him, my family, anyone really. With prayer and the help of family, I began to realize that God does have a plan for all of us, but I needed to stop assuming what He was wanting for me. I needed to stop and listen. God has reminded me of why I am here and pulled me out from a season of sadness and loneliness. After my wreck, I knew I was saved for a purpose. Each day of my recovery, I struggled but fought using His grace. He placed me working as a RT for 3 years and I will always have those memories. The job eventually became too much for me to carry mentally and physically. I let my job consume me in many ways. I began to realize that my purpose may have been to be a RT for a little while and help do His will, but it was time to pursue a new journey. With this season change, God has encouraged me to continue to trust Him fully with my life. We are not in control of our paths and need to trust fully in His design for our lives. I was so determined that I was saved (in my accident) to become a RT, I lost a part of myself for a while. God is in control and we need to remember that. I felt silly telling people I was going back to school again. But then I was reminded that it may seem very silly to some people but to God maybe I am reaching so many people in different places. Maybe in going on these different paths, I have shown His love and grace and helped spread His word. I realized I need to remain open to where He leads me. In changing career paths, God reminds me to let go and trust Him. I will always be thankful for the experiences from being a RT, but I cannot wait to see how God uses me to help students in the classroom.” Taylor B.

“I have learned that God’s purpose in me being a pharmacist is not just to provide an income for my family and to insure my patients get the correct medications and care. My job is my ministry. It’s my chance to extend “extra” grace to that stressed out mom with two sick children, to that old man who has lost his bride of 50 years, to that guy picking up his Suboxone as he fights his battle with addiction, to that women who is picking pre-op medications for her surgery on Friday. That “extra” grace maybe an encouraging word, a prayer at the counseling booth, accepting a post dated check from someone short on money, staying 15 minutes after close for that customer stuck in traffic. God shows me new ways that I can help be the hands and feet of Jesus all the time. My job, just like every other job, is temporary. It is a stewardship on loan from God. Throughout my life I know I will hold many different jobs/positions, pharmacist, manager, wife, mom, etc. I don’t know how long I will hold each of this positions so it’s important that I remain grateful for the positions I hold now. It’s also important that I see the urgency in doing what I can today knowing that tomorrow is not promised. As a pharmacist/manager, things are ever changing. Employees come and go, customers come and go. Medications, insurance, and regulations are all ever changing. Sometimes it’s a joy to see employees move on to higher jobs but it also can be challenging to replace them. In this ever changing workplace, I know this to be true. God will always provide! He has been faithful to send to right people at the right time over and over again.” Stephanie T.