If you live in my part of the world, you know how the grind goes, (If you happen to have one that is.)
See, unless grace prevails, you finish school, get a job, clock in at 8, get some bare minimum done, manage the boss’s expectations (and eyesight), scroll a bit, and somehow hold out for the paycheck, end of every month.
If you are the hardworking type, same cycle, you do well in school, graduate, get a corner office, and burn three-quarters of your life in daily traffic, as you await salary too. Sure there is great value in formal employment, I experienced it, yet some life discoveries still waylaid me.
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto:pexels.com
Long story short, things went south. And didn’t they in 2020? I lost my familiar office job! ” Unforeseeable circumstances” were the words implied in my termination letter.
The pandemic brought the curtain down on my formal 8-5 pm work, It had been some years in the cycle. Job today, no job tomorrow, contract today, project closure the next, at some point, I even responded to new Job alerts before the new HR knew both my names. whirlwind!
Yet there was an idea I had toyed with for so long, an idea to start something that would serve people with my abilities.
And albeit under duress (synonym for “desperation”), amidst multiple “We regret to inform you ” emails, God in his providence illuminated.
“Eddie, you no longer have a corner office to polish your shoes for, every weekday, but how can you optimize the massive time you find yourself with now after job loss”
Well, I looked at my writing passion, and marketing self-education, and hit the road of private communications consulting. Was it smooth? nay, was I ready? prayerfully only maybe.
Truth is, some mornings I missed the corner office comfort, the longing for the 25th of each month when the Bank notification arrived, even my hope in “staff insurance” was almost overriding my hope in God’s provision for health. Red flag?
But what a joy it has been, 3 plus years into running my small outfit, Paul’s phrasings describing his situation to the Corinthians would fit like a puzzle here—”suffering yet always rejoicing.”
I mean, bad clients, noisy kids next door, some broke months, laptop breakdown when deadlines are looming (that is, assuming Umeme complied all day) and yet hanging in there by sheer grace, with the sole confidence that even this grind is making me more like Jesus, conforming me to his image.
Uganda aside, unemployment anywhere can be stigmatizing, and it doesn’t help if it finds you outside Christ. Looking back, my entrepreneurship was (and often is) a gruelling journey, but the often private gains you make cultivating self-management, resilience and character are priceless. We won’t even talk about the sanctifying joys of God ripping you squeaky clean of your former “title-based” false identities.
The ability to work as unto an invisible boss every morning, to question my existence, not in terms of who gives me a contract to sign, but how I can add value to my neighbour today, the freedom to pursue part-time ministry, self-employment often allows these for your fleeting life.
Many months after COVID, I was like an African goat before car headlights, clueless about my next professional step, yet before God, I would be fine. I was going to be fine! All I needed was a mustard-sized kind of faith enough to trust him that, though my office routines were dead, his calling for me wasn’t.
Our Daily work is an arena for Christian sanctification. Yet, we rarely connect the dots between what God is doing and what we are up to, Join a Kampala Community of Christian professionals wrestling with what it means to follow Jesus amidst our grind. Connect via WhatsApp here – https://bit.ly/KampalaFaithatWork
