Read Genesis 39:21-23

Twice we read in that short account, “The Lord was with Joseph.” Joseph began to see the hand of God in his prison experience. In what could have been the direst of positions, the dreariest of places, Joseph prospered. Because of this, he was freed up to be used by God strategically in the lives of at least two men. Amazingly, he prospered in prison—of all places.

False accusations put Joseph in prison, but it was the Lord who stayed near him and nurtured his soul while he was there. As a result, Joseph found favor even in the eyes of the chief jailer—what we might call the prison warden—to the point where the man trusted Joseph to supervise all the other prisoners. The warden trusted and respected Joseph so much that he “did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.”

You see, the Lord God remained first in Joseph’s life; He was the focus of his life. The lens of God’s will stood between Joseph and his circumstances, enabling Joseph to see God in them, to read God in them—and enabling God to use him in them.

When a dungeon experience comes, the quickest and easiest response is to feel that you’ve been forgotten by God. I don’t know if you read the cartoon “Ziggy,” but I enjoy him—maybe because he often says the very things I’ve been thinking! One of my favorites shows Ziggy, with his big nose and bald head, standing on a mountain and staring far above him. The sky is dark, and there is one lonely cloud up there. Ziggy yells, “Have I been put on hold for the rest of my life?”

You’ve felt like that, haven’t you? “Lord, will You ever answer?” How often the heavens seem more like cold brass than God’s loving abode. We cry out, but nothing comes in return.

Make no mistake about it, Joseph didn’t deserve jail, but he responded to it beautifully. That’s the marvel of the story. First and foremost in his life was his vital and consistent relationship with his Lord. And because of that, God used him in strategic and significant ways.

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Does that seem illogical to anyone else considering many of us spend more than 50% of our waking hours in our work? There’s got to be a better way.

The good news is that there is a better way. I have spent years analyzing the changing U.S. job climate and researching the abundant opportunities for flexible and life-enhancing work that are available to Americans. My hope is to encourage the misemployed, underemployed, and unemployed to think creatively and respond proactively to transform their work life.

This was my motivation for writing “A Better Way to Make a Living…and a Life” which I’m excited to announce is finally available in the Kindle edition (check it out!). This book is designed to facilitate exploration of your calling, the true purpose of work, and how to balance work and life priorities.

I love my Kindle, it’s the busy person’s answer to reading new books on the run. If you are tired of being miserable or have loved ones stuck in this life-draining trap, pass the news along. Take the time to achieve a sense of joy, peace, and balance in your work-life. You have the rest of your life ahead of you.

If you have a Kindle, go download “A Better Way to Make a Living…and a Life”. You won’t regret it. If you have a friend, brother, wife, child, mother who hates their job, spread the good news.

Abraham Lincoln told the story of an Eastern monarch who commanded his wise men to create a sentence. This sentence would be cut in stone and always be in view. It must be true. It must apply in every situation and at all times. The wise men met and returned to the monarch with their sentence: “This, too, shall pass away.”

This five-word statement does fit every situation. In moments of glory and triumph, it levels our sights. In our deepest grief, it lifts our vision.

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. You may have closed the deal of a lifetime. Or you may have just lost that deal by saying something stupid. Whatever it is: this too shall pass . . . in the high calling of our daily work.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt. 24:35)

Source: thehighcalling.org

1 Peter 5:5-7

Maybe we should confess that one reason we find it so hard to set selfishness aside and adopt the spirit of a servant is that we’re driven by dreams of success. We want to be winners.

Face it; we live in a success-saturated society. Right next to the books applauding our selfishness are dozens of bestsellers telling us how we can be more successful. Dozens of books and magazines every year, along with scores of DVDs and hundreds of seminars, offer new ideas and new motivation techniques that have the promise of prosperity. Success is big business. No wonder thinking like servants is so hard.

Curiously, however, few ever address what most folks want (but seldom find) in their pursuit of success: contentment, fulfillment, satisfaction, and relief. On the contrary, the roads that are supposed to lead to success are not only rocky; they’re maddening. As the Executive’s Digestonce reported, “The trouble with success is that the formula is the same as the one for a nervous breakdown.”

And what formula is that? Work longer hours, push ahead, let nothing hinder your quest—not your marriage or family, not your convictions or conscience, not your health or friends. Be aggressive and, if necessary, mean, as you press toward the top. You gotta be smart, slick, and sly if success is the bottom line of your agenda. It’s the same old fortune-fame-power-pleasure line we’ve been fed for decades.

At the risk of sounding ultra-simplistic, I’d like to offer some counsel that stands 180 degrees in contrast to all the above. My suggestions will never appear in the Wall Street Journal or as part of the Harvard Business School curriculum, but they do represent a philosophy supported in Scripture.

You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:5-7)

These verses address three crucial realms related to true success: authority, attitude, and anxiety. And the best part of all is this: following God’s directives will bring the one benefit not found in the world’s empty promises—a deep sense of lasting satisfaction.

It’s what we could call the forgotten side of success. And I would add that it is the success that will come to those who wish to develop the heart of a servant.

Excerpted from Improving Your Serve: The Art of Unselfish Living, Copyright © 1981 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

Whether you are unsatisfied in your current job or unemployed, your focus should be on improving the product you are offering to organizations (aka, yourself). There’s been a lot of talk lately on the importance of “soft skills” in the hiring process. These skills are worth attaining and maintaining in order to remain competitive in the job market as we move forward into 2011.

Applicants for a position will normally possess similar degrees, certificates and basic experiences. So how do you stand apart and above the rest? Soft skills.

These soft skills give you, the applicant, a unique personal branding.  Here are some examples:

1. global skills, such as expertise in other languages and/or cultures,
2. diverse experience (large and small companies, US and non-US companies, clinical and corporate, etc.),
3. relentless dedication and strong work ethic,
4. a sense of urgency to get the job done well and quickly,
5. a solution orientation and strong problem-solving skills, and
6. an adaptable, collaborative team approach.

According to a Business Panel from The 25th Annual Careers Conference, “Hiring is not just about the degree you hold, but increasingly also about the passion you express for the company and what it does. Drive can have the edge over more technically qualified candidates.”

Are you witnessing this trend in your experiences or job search? Has your lack of a degree ever held you back from opportunities?