Common wisdom follows a train of thought similar to this: "If you love to do something, it will not matter how much money you make. It's better to be yourself and love what you do than to be rich and miserable because you hate your job." I was struck just now as I wrote this that such a train of thought seems rather self-centered—it's all about personal fulfillment. It bypasses my selfishness detectors because it seems to shun money, but in the end it's all about my own satisfaction. "How can I get the most for me out of life? Money is a dead-end, and fame is too. But who can fault me for simply doing what I love?"
It's not necessarily wrong to do what I love; this I know. But neither is it necessarily wrong to earn money by doing something that doesn't rank as my favorite pastime. Neither route will of itself bring me fulfillment. If I engage in activities I love because I think I deserve the freedom to pursue any interest I may have, or because I feel I am entitled to happiness through indulgence in personal whims, it is selfish and ultimately not fulfilling. By the same token, if I ignore my own skills, giftings, personality wiring, and general bent of mind in the pursuit of monetary success,—besides being a disservice to the God who formed me in such a way as He saw fit for His sometimes inscrutable purposes—it is, of itself, empty.
I will find fulfillment in carrying out the will of the Father. Jesus was a carpenter, but carving wood could never bring fulfillment in His life unless it pleased the Father at that particular time. There was a time for Jesus to carve, and a time for Him to minister. Each activity seems to be a container that can either be filled with God's good pleasure and blessing or else hollow, empty, and purposeless. I suppose I seek that path which will be a container into which the Father will plentifully pour His blessing. I present my vessel to Him. Guide my steps, O God.
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