The Job You Were Made For

I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. Exodus 31:1-5

A couple years ago, a woman stopped by my office with a copy of my book in hand. Did you write this? I thought she asking me to sign it, so I did, whereupon she informed me she wasn’t looking for an autograph. You need to come work with us. She went on to explain that the clinic I’m employed by had a correctional (jail medicine) department. She’d found my book in a local coffee shop and discovered through it that I was in recovery and volunteered at the local jail. At that time, she saw what I couldn’t. There was a job out there that I was meant to do. I didn’t even know that job existed and when I learned about it, I wasn’t terribly interested. I already had a good job.

Still, I was intrigued enough to learn more. When I later met with the physician who eventually became my mentor, I realized this was a job that I needed to do. It’s been a couple of years now and though I don’t do the job perfectly, I must say that I find tremendous joy in doing the job I was meant to do. God brought me here and I feel confident that if I’d have said no that I’d have been quite miserable in my disobedience. I’m learning that when God asks me to do a thing, I’m far better off if I simply do it.

Today’s passage tells of Bezalel, whom God called to lead the building of his tabernacle and all its ornamentation. God gifted Bezalel with certain abilities and then asked that he use those abilities to serve him. God called and he obeyed.

I’m not saying there is one geographical location and one job out there that I must do, and that if I’m not doing it, I’m being disobedient. I am saying that whatever my skills are, God wants to use those skills for his service. This doesn’t mean that I was to become a professional minister. It does mean that I had to take my life experiences and aptitude to God, offering them to him. In doing so, he took my disastrous addiction, coupled it with my medical knowledge, and put me in a place where I could be of service to him. Refusing God would have made me miserable. Saying yes to God has been tremendously fulfilling. My way is misery. God’s way is life. So, daily, I must do the job which he gave me to do.