Modern Woman. Modern Life. And GodSample

The Challenge of a Career

The woman who manages a profitable career while watching over the affairs of her household has a tremendous challenge. Frequently, her career activities take her into male-dominated arenas in which she seeks to achieve success with strength and dignity. Often her determination to seek employment is an economic necessity.

Career success does not often come easily. A woman frequently works long, hard hours and sacrifices a great deal of personal time in order to do all her jobs well. This demands unique creativity in order to maintain priorities and fulfill legitimate expectations with home and family (Ecc 10:10). Wisdom from the Lord enables a woman to prepare herself to accomplish her tasks in a way so that time and energy are used most efficiently and effectively.

By focusing on God’s unconditional love a woman can keep from demanding perfection of herself. Jesus himself finished his life on earth without healing every person who was sick or preaching to everyone who was lost (Jn 4:34). The challenge for women with careers is to make sure that first they are women who fear the Lord and then that their work is ordered according to the priorities and plan the Lord has given.

Where does a career woman place her focus? Paul admonished women and men to seek in all pursuits to please God (1Th 2:4–6). Focus on pleasing God, and he will enable you not only to please others and meet their needs but also to bring honor to him through your pursuits. In other words, he is the source of wisdom and strength to do all in a Christ-honoring way. The Lord will go with and in you to your job, and he is totally capable of helping you with any problems. He can make an enormous difference in your focus, attitude and motivations (Col 3:23–24).