In the Dream Job—But Still Struggling

I once went to a party where, during the initial ice-breaker, three people all said that in the last year they had started their dream job.

How exciting!

But in talking to them later, the first said, “My job is great. But my husband’s job … it’s a disaster.”

The second said, “It’s much harder than I thought it would be. Every day I wonder: can I do it?”

The third said, “I went through nine very difficult interviews to get this job in sales for a large tech firm. But now that I have it, I get up every day, convinced that I have nothing to offer. And it’s all about quotas. So stressful!”

The celebration … and the struggle.

It made me think of Old Testament Joseph.

After being sold into slavery, wrongfully accused, and imprisoned, eventually he rose to the position of authority and power that he had (literally) dreamed of many years before.

He had faithfully believed through all the twists. In Genesis 41:32, Joseph says, “And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (NKJV).

And if he said that with certainty to Pharaoh, he must have believed it for himself, too.

Later his brothers came, and scripture records the extended scene of restoration.

Yay! Dream job! Family reconciliation!

Except that after Jacob dies, Joseph’s brothers come to him and say, “Oh, please don’t kill us.”

Joseph wept at this message, and rightfully so.

That request demonstrated a deep, unhealed rift.

Even if my siblings and I had a major falling out, I find it difficult to imagine going to a family reunion and saying, “Oh, by the way, sorry about that—could you please not kill me?”

Were the brothers looking in the mirror and projecting their own response to such betrayal?

Had they seen how Joseph reacted to various court intrigues?

Could they—like most of us—simply not fathom actual forgiveness?

We don’t know.

But even though Joseph had his dream job—even though he had reached the pinnacle of the prophesied word—he clearly faced deep brokenness in his relationships. Hard things, not only in his past, but in his present, in the midst of the fulfillment.

The celebration … and the struggle.

All the things that prayer can help.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Thank you, Jesus, that you are the Prince of Peace. Thank you that in the midst of our lives—a mix of beautiful and terrible, of joy and sorrow, of celebration and struggle—that you are our Peace. Thank you. We welcome you. Amen.

Be at peace,

Amy Joy

Does God actually care about our work?

Yes! Far more than most of us were ever taught! Get a short, free reflection on why work—the place we spend the most waking hours most weeks—matters to him.

(And if you're already longing to be prayed for, by name, you can begin a week of prayer coverage, our treat, at prayercoverage.co.)