Consider this - if we ceased moving forward because of those many difficulties in front of us, or we got scared by whatever we might imagine, this is referred to as 'living by sight' – we'd be treading water at best in our Christian walk.
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Jesus requires us to believe in Him no matter in what circumstances. Our calling is to live by faith and not by sight. I realise this is a common saying, but it is genuinely wiser to listen to Jesus than listen to any other human being. As Christians we endeavour and live by faith but too much of the time, if I am any example, we are living by sight.
I can use my own experience as an example, to show how God has provided me guidance through my career.
When I finished my Bachelor degree in Accounting in Malaysia in year 2008, I came to Australia. At the beginning, I thought my job hunting would be easy and smooth. I thought I could find a lot of work opportunities on the Internet and the newspaper, and I could choose the path I would like to do the most.
However, the reality was I could not find a job, even an opportunity for an interview, in which I thought I did very well, I did not get the job. maybe I set my goal too high to reach as a fresh graduate. I tried comfort myself.
For the next couple of weeks, I set my job hunting criteria lower than at the beginning of my search. But there was still no good news.
After two months had past, I was still struggling to get an accounting related job. As I needed money to support myself and my wife, with a friend's help, I got a job as a shop assistant in a local super market. Even though this was not I wanted to do, but at that moment, I did not have any better choice. Many people find themselves in this situation.
Another two months past, I left the shop assistant job, and got a nursing assistant job in a nursing home. A "nursing assistant" - I never thought about this as a career path. It seemed to me that I was getting into a totally different career path as opposed to accounting. As I couldn't find an accounting job, nursing assistant would at least keep money coming in and frankly, quite a lot.
I worked in the nursing home for almost three years. During that period, some people around me often advised me to take the nursing path, and forget about getting back to accounting. Their reason was simple, since I've now got experience in the nursing field; I can find a better nursing position easily.
Often I asked God for help to provide me more guidance regarding my career. I believed God answered my prayers by allowing some of my other friends to encourage me to get back to accounting and never give up this dream. That's the reason I kept going to accounting training to equip myself with updated accounting skills.
Finally, I got an accounting job. As I looked back to my footprints on my career path, even though it wasn't straight, I finally ended up with my goal.
Even though, nursing bought me financially through this initial period of time in Australia, that was not my goal. Moreover, as I look back, this nursing period gave me the opportunity to gain more qualifications in accounting knowledge. God never shut the door on my, rather those stepping stones were vital to me getting the accounting job.
God's guidance is constant. Living by faith not by sight is not easy. In my case, this was the attitude I needed in my Christian walk.
Oscar Duan is from China, he has an accountancy degree from University of Hertfordshire (UH) International campus in Malaysia, and has undertaken further accountancy studies in Australia for accreditation here. He is married to Heyley.
Oscar Duan's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/oscar-duan.html