There was a certain day when I was playing with my 2-year-old daughter Katya, and my mind was unfortunately more occupied on how to land my next contract on Upwork than on giving my full attention to her. But then I had a simple thought, surely from the Holy Ghost: "What if this—being a mother—was an Upwork job?"
Here I was, spending any time I could reading job descriptions, bidding for contracts, and performing each job to the very best of my ability, especially for the sake of getting positive feedback. And yet I also had a "job" right in front of me: being a mother to my daughter. And that got me thinking ... what if God were my employer? What would His job description be for my different roles? How am I doing in fulfilling them? And what feedback would He write about me and my work? Here are some things I came up with as I thought about these questions.
How would God write your "job description"?
All of us have different roles in our lives. Family roles could include spouse, parent, child, sibling, aunt/uncle, grandparent, etc. Professional roles differ depending on your field of work. Perhaps you're involved in other things, like pursuing an education or participating in service organizations. A calling at Church certainly counts as a role as well.
Try making a list of all of your roles: all of the "jobs" you're striving to perform and balance in your life. And then ask yourself for each of them, "What does God expect of me in this role?" In other words, how would God write each "job description"?
I think sometimes we get so caught up in our daily, mundane tasks that we forget to see the bigger picture. Am I changing diapers, cooking meals, and chasing kids around every day? Well yeah, but that's the how, not the what (and certainly not the why). What I'm really doing, or rather what I'm trying to do, is this:
Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.
Heavenly Father even goes on to share how we can be successful in our family roles:
Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.
Seeing your life's roles from a higher, more divine perspective can help keep you on the right track and motivate you in moving forward.
How can you communicate with Him about your "work"?
Upwork has a very convenient message system through which freelancers and clients can communicate. As I perform a job, I stay in close communication with my client to make sure I understand expectations and can ask questions when issues arise.
How can we communicate with God as we seek to perform His work? As the popular phrase goes, "When we want to speak to God, we pray. And when we want Him to speak to us, we search the scriptures; for His words are spoken through His prophets. He will then teach us as we listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit" (Robert D. Hales). It's important to do this every day since our lives are filled with questions that often only He can answer.
Through prayer, we can share our concerns with our Heavenly Father and ask specific questions about the issues we're facing in our various roles. We can also ask Him what He thinks about our lives, what's going well, and what we could improve. It's always a little scary to ask questions like this that make you vulnerable, but in my experience, it's so worth it.
After we've expressed our questions and concerns to God, He will respond to our prayers if we humbly and diligently seek answers. This revelation can come in a variety of ways: from the scriptures, general conference, and other Church resources certainly, but it could also be in the words of a song, an inspired Facebook post, or a conversation with a friend. It might just be your own thoughts and feelings as you take time to ponder these things.
One example of this happened to me last week. I was having a hard time with something, and on a drive to a friend's house, a song came on the radio with the lyrics, "Would you choose water over wine?" I have no idea the original meaning that Incubus intended for these lyrics, but for me, they were an answer to prayer. The question I heard instead was this: "Are you going to hold on to your hurt and let your pride keep you from progressing, or will you humble yourself and let the Savior transform that hurt into healing?" Why was I choosing water over wine, not allowing the Lord to miraculously change me?
This is just one example of personal revelation I've received. I know that the heavens are open to anyone who seeks God's approval and desires to communicate with Him. He knows how best to communicate with you specifically, and He will tell you everything you need to do in order to perform your tasks and live your life in the very best way possible.
What does God think of your "job performance"?
Have you ever asked Heavenly Father what He thinks about how you're fulfilling your various roles? I don't think this is something we're used to doing. Sure, we may pray often, thanking Heavenly Father for our blessings and requesting help for ourselves and others. But have you ever just flat out asked God what He thinks about you? Maybe there's a spiritually self-conscious part of us that is afraid of what He might say. After all, He sees the big picture and knows us perfectly, including all of our flaws.
Nonetheless, I invite you to try this. Pray to God and ask, "Heavenly Father... how do you feel about me? How do you think I'm doing as a [insert role here]?" I don't know what His answer will be, or how He'll manifest that to you, but I know one thing for sure: He loves you, no matter what. And He is eager to tell you that.
Also, if there are things you can improve, which surely is the case for all of us, He'll let you know gradually, with love, understanding, and patience. He's not some uncaring boss just looking for an excuse to call you out or fire you. He's the type of boss who understands that His workers are just as important as His work. In fact, we are His work: "For behold, this is [His] work and [His] glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of [all of us]" (Moses 1:39).
I hope that we can all strive to see our lives as God does, stay in close communication with Him, and eventually receive His glorious feedback, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matthew 25:21)
Share your own thoughts
What do you think God expects of you in your various roles? How does thinking about this change the way you live your life? Feel free to share in the comments section!
