day 265: Unrecognized Development

I have had many an occasion to counsel people about their career development. Almost all of those conversations include me reminding them that regardless of how they feel they are being developed directly, they are being developed indirectly by the experiences they are gaining and the learning that they pick up each and every day. In these times when many people feel "trapped" in their job with no immediate course of change available, it is important that every day we realize we are being developed in some way for the future that will come. Yes, the future will come. At our church we are studying Moses and how God called him in his later years to do what he thought he was going to do in his mid-life, but had actually been developed and prepared for in his early years. In Acts 7:22 we read; "Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he became mighty in both speech and action". All he was taught in his early years, he carried with him while in his midlife he pursued the life of a shepherd and leading his family. And then he put it all together later in his life. We are so determined to manage our careers fast and furiously. We don't take the long-view very often, unless we are forced to do so. Otherwise, we think that we must gain as much experience and move ourselves up as fast as we can. Maybe in this time when everything around us is slowing us down, God is trying to say something to each of us about what we can do when we aren't all-consumed with that next promotion or move. Perhaps God is trying to tell us that while we don't recognize it, He is developing us in the jobs we are in now and that He wants us to realize that we are on His time frame, not ours. If today, you are feeling the anxiety of not moving up or not feeling like you are being developed or grown, then take an inventory of the things you are able to do today with confidence, versus the things that weren't so comfortable not that long ago. You are growing, if you are allowing yourself to grow. While you may not be able to recognized your development, God can see it clearly and is at work in you today.

Reference: Acts 7:22 (New Living Testament)