What to do when you hate your job

by Bob on May 11, 2009

Extracted from http://christianpf.com/what-to-do-when-you-hate-your-job/

How I survived my “hate my job” phase

There were a few important lessons that I learned that I can now see were critical to my sanity!

I was thankful for what I had

I would thank God for my job on a daily basis. It wasn’t my dream-job by any means, but I was extremely grateful that I wasn’t standing in the unemployment line. I had a short stint of about 3 months when I couldn’t find a job and that is pretty terrible feeling to have. 1 Thes 5:18 says to give thanks in everything – let me tell you, it can be really difficult sometimes, but I am convinced that this was one of the primary keys that helped me stick it out.

I worked harder

When you hate your job, the tendency is to slack off and just do the bare minimum. Whether I was not good at my job or better than everyone around me, it didn’t matter – I was still called to work hard. Col 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” As I got a hold of that it really brought peace, because I knew that even if I had a tyrannical boss, if I worked hard for the Lord, things would work out for me. I didn’t have to get caught up in brown-nosing or jumping through hundreds of hoops to keep the boss in a good mood. I just needed to work hard and trust God to take care of the rest.

I prayed

This is pretty obvious, but it should still be mentioned. During that phase I often found myself meditating and praying Psalm 37. It talks a lot about waiting on the Lord and how He sustains the righteous.
I prayed that He would give me favor with my bosses and co-workers. He did. I prayed that He would give me grace to stick it out to the end. He did. I prayed that he would lead me to a job that I loved. He did.

I was active

I didn’t really know if the whole make money with a blog thing was possible, but I started a blogging anyway. Had I not been putting some action to my faith (James 2:20) by starting a blog, I would probably still be in a job that I hated somewhere. I was also actively scanning job listings, tweaking my resume, and taking classes to make myself a more valuable asset to an employer.

Final thoughts

If you are in a job you hate, I am sorry. It’s not fun at all and I know how difficult it can be, but don’t be discouraged! You are not stuck, there is a way out, and there is something better on the horizon. I don’t think I have a monopoly on things you should do when you hate your job, but, I do think doing the four things listed above is a great place to start. Pray and read Psalm 37 – you will feel better.