Meaningful Work in Seasons of Transitionਨਮੂਨਾ

Prayer – Take 30 seconds of silence and stillness. Then, express your desire for God to reveal Himself to you.

Devotional - The Meaningful Work of Confession

Are you working in the in-between?

• Maybe you’re in a part-time role as you finished college. You are working in the in-between of student and professional.
• Maybe you’re in an apprenticeship. You are working in the in-between of laborer and skilled trades person.
• Maybe you’ve been downsized or fired, and you must take the best role on a list of some very uninspiring options. You are working in the in-between of where you are and where you hope to be.
• Maybe you’re at a place that you really like but you have an idea that you can’t shake. You are working in the in-between of having the security of a paycheck and the excitement of entrepreneurship.
• Maybe you’re in the fourth quarter of your career. There is light at the end of the tunnel. You are working in the in-between of career and retirement.

No one can avoid working through times of transition. When we find ourselves there, we are at the critical crossroads of experiencing the transformational grace of God or spiraling into bitterness, grumbling, and regret.

This plan will examine the lives of three faithful people in scripture who will point us to meaningful work during our seasons in-between.

We read about Isaiah’s transitional moment in chapter six of the book of Isaiah. He timestamps his crossroads, “In the year that King Uzziah died.” Uzziah became king when he was 16 years old and reigned 52 years. He was their anchor, their rock, their one constant in times of change, and now he was gone.

Isaiah had a new encounter with God in the context of grief. He tells us that in verse one, and we cannot separate the loss he was feeling with his fresh experience of God. When it comes to work, we often put our emotions away and soldier on. But for times of transition to become seasons of transformation, we must be attuned to the grief and losses we carry.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you consider:

• Is my uneasiness at work connected to some sense of loss?
• God, what do You want to help me grieve so I may see you more clearly?

As Isaiah acknowledged his grief, he was led to the meaningful work of confession. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)

Take some time to do the work of confession.

• Is God asking you to confess anything to Him – ingratitude for the job you currently have, working under your own strength, indifference or pride that has damaged relationships, fear disguised as self-sufficiency, or perhaps ethical compromise?

Close in Prayer

Father, I am in an uncomfortable place, but You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, including the days spent in this season of transition. Give me wisdom and courage to make the most of every opportunity even in this place I’d rather not be. Amen.