When to quit?
I've known for a while now that John has been very dissatisfied with his job. His company isn't the best, but it's a decent paying job that helps us get by (quite well, I might add) while I'm completing my studies in Davis. However, he's been coming home later and later as the months go by, and I've been hearing bits and pieces about how the work force is understaffed but they just can't seem to find qualified enough people to hire.
I don't particularly favor him coming home late for a few reasons. First, it means dinner will get cold. Second, it means having less time with him. But above all, it's because he's not paid for any overtime, so I kind of resent his manager giving him more work than he's being paid to do. Nevertheless, if that is just what he has to do to stay on top, I'm not going to raise any complaints. We don't get to pick and choose a lot of things in life after all. If we want some form of stability and this is what the job entails, we'd just to have to deal with it for the time being, right?
But what happens when you get get a phone call from him saying he has to stay till 10pm, or even 2am if he really made a huge blunder, because the project must be done by hook or by crook the next day? At what point is "staying late" and "working hard to keep the job" too much? For me, that is enough to reconsider if it's a position worth saving.
Call me someone who's not married to her job, but that's just a matter of fact. I don't know if I can ever value a career or a specific income enough to be mistreated by someone. Working late nights doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather have less money and status if it means I have more freedom to monopolize my own time, and not surrender my life to a less than stellar manager. I'm not talking without experience or out of ignorance. I've been in that kind of position before, where I had to live paycheck to paycheck just so I could cover rent for a room I use only to sleep in before heading back to work the next morning. If that is the kind of situation we are in, then of course there's not much we can do about it. But if we have other options, why should we ever submit ourselves to such treatment? Life is not about making tons of money for a comfortable future. It's about living in the now while planning for a future. I wouldn't consider working from 8am to 10pm at a job that doesn't appreciate my efforts as "living in the present", no matter how much money I'm being paid to do so.
Yet, quitting a job because it's crappy isn't something some people can do on the fly. The consequences from such an action are not trivial in the least. With the scarcity of well-paying meaningful jobs, I understand that people are becoming more willing to take on unpleasant jobs in fear of being unemployed. But is it really better to be employed at place that drains you to the point of collapsing in a huge comfortable bed the moment you come home, or is it better to scrape by for a little while and investing the better part of your energy in search of another more meaningful opportunity?
I think a lot of people will choose the former because it's a safer option, but I also think that as children of God, we should consider the latter. I don't have a very laissez faire approach to life (trust me, I'm a very controlling type), but sometimes I feel that learning to trust in God and giving up our struggles to him in these kind of situations might be a better choice. What good do we derive from a job that consumes us so much to the point that we don't know how to let go? Is our God really a God that doesn't see our struggles and our hurt? No, he is a God who will take care of all our needs. So, why do we always find ourselves clinging onto the "stability" a job brings instead of holding onto the never-changing, all encompassing, eternal God? Why do we put our faith in things we can "see", when a lot of what happens around us--our past, present, and future--are things we cannot see or grasp to begin with?
"Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed."
Of course, this is going to be a tough decision, and I really don't know what I can do should John actually chooses to quit his job. But I want to be reminded of the Lord's grace and mercy that have carried me through all these years whenever I've reached my limit. So whatever it may be, I pray that I will continue to stand strong in the Lord, to persevere, and to always seek him for wisdom and guidance.
So, should he quit? I don't know. What I do know, however, is that the Lord has never failed.
I don't particularly favor him coming home late for a few reasons. First, it means dinner will get cold. Second, it means having less time with him. But above all, it's because he's not paid for any overtime, so I kind of resent his manager giving him more work than he's being paid to do. Nevertheless, if that is just what he has to do to stay on top, I'm not going to raise any complaints. We don't get to pick and choose a lot of things in life after all. If we want some form of stability and this is what the job entails, we'd just to have to deal with it for the time being, right?
But what happens when you get get a phone call from him saying he has to stay till 10pm, or even 2am if he really made a huge blunder, because the project must be done by hook or by crook the next day? At what point is "staying late" and "working hard to keep the job" too much? For me, that is enough to reconsider if it's a position worth saving.
Call me someone who's not married to her job, but that's just a matter of fact. I don't know if I can ever value a career or a specific income enough to be mistreated by someone. Working late nights doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather have less money and status if it means I have more freedom to monopolize my own time, and not surrender my life to a less than stellar manager. I'm not talking without experience or out of ignorance. I've been in that kind of position before, where I had to live paycheck to paycheck just so I could cover rent for a room I use only to sleep in before heading back to work the next morning. If that is the kind of situation we are in, then of course there's not much we can do about it. But if we have other options, why should we ever submit ourselves to such treatment? Life is not about making tons of money for a comfortable future. It's about living in the now while planning for a future. I wouldn't consider working from 8am to 10pm at a job that doesn't appreciate my efforts as "living in the present", no matter how much money I'm being paid to do so.
Yet, quitting a job because it's crappy isn't something some people can do on the fly. The consequences from such an action are not trivial in the least. With the scarcity of well-paying meaningful jobs, I understand that people are becoming more willing to take on unpleasant jobs in fear of being unemployed. But is it really better to be employed at place that drains you to the point of collapsing in a huge comfortable bed the moment you come home, or is it better to scrape by for a little while and investing the better part of your energy in search of another more meaningful opportunity?
I think a lot of people will choose the former because it's a safer option, but I also think that as children of God, we should consider the latter. I don't have a very laissez faire approach to life (trust me, I'm a very controlling type), but sometimes I feel that learning to trust in God and giving up our struggles to him in these kind of situations might be a better choice. What good do we derive from a job that consumes us so much to the point that we don't know how to let go? Is our God really a God that doesn't see our struggles and our hurt? No, he is a God who will take care of all our needs. So, why do we always find ourselves clinging onto the "stability" a job brings instead of holding onto the never-changing, all encompassing, eternal God? Why do we put our faith in things we can "see", when a lot of what happens around us--our past, present, and future--are things we cannot see or grasp to begin with?
"Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed."
Of course, this is going to be a tough decision, and I really don't know what I can do should John actually chooses to quit his job. But I want to be reminded of the Lord's grace and mercy that have carried me through all these years whenever I've reached my limit. So whatever it may be, I pray that I will continue to stand strong in the Lord, to persevere, and to always seek him for wisdom and guidance.
So, should he quit? I don't know. What I do know, however, is that the Lord has never failed.
Comments