Ecclesiastes 1:3

Who are these Joneses?

- What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? -

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I’ve had a different career path.

After college, I got a job with AT&T. Not my dream job, but I wanted something that could support my family. Isn’t that a duty of husbands?

In about 3 years, I moved to Cricket Wireless, a subsidiary of AT&T, as an IT Project Manager.

I was terrified. Despite successes, I always thought myself as untried and doomed. You can call that irrational, but I’d prefer unwise.

In a year and a half, I helped deliver our second largest project, took over a team that was struggling and turned them into a powerhouse, and got all the accoutrements to go with it: awards, vacations, promotions, etc.

But, I left. Why?

I worked around the clock. It wasn’t unusual for me to work to 10 pm and wake up at 3 am on a call with our QA team in India.

On some days sitting at my desk, I could feel my heart racing from all the stress. I didn’t know what it meant, but I couldn’t stop taking the caffeine.

I remember days needing coffee so bad, that I would suck it out of my Starbucks cup fresh out of the pot, not caring what it did to my tongue.

And all the while, God demanded more of my time. He told me to read. He told me to write. He wanted hours of my time, and I desperately wanted to give it to him and couldn’t.

I was miserable, scared, and living the American dream.

Then, Dad called.

“Why don’t you work for me, Son. No, I can’t pay you the same. You’ll go back a few promotions, but I think you can make good progress in time.”

I prayed, and now I’m a project manager in the construction industry.

Now, what lesson did I learn in my foolishness?

I’ve been obsessed my entire life with living out God’s calling, so much at times I’ve hurt and offended others by it. Honestly, I haven’t been that good at it.

But, I always thought I was doing my best. I didn’t think Cricket was “where God wanted me,” but I thought it’s what He wanted for my family.

On one of my daily walks, I wrestled with God about this.

My argument probably came out something like the following: “Didn’t you know I was in pain? Why didn’t you tell me to leave sooner!?”

His response, “We both knew you wouldn’t listen. You were too afraid of not being able to provide. I told you what you needed to hear to grow.”

The moral of the story? I didn’t want riches to have more than my friends. I didn’t want to work hours upon hours to climb the corporate ladder. I wanted to work like that for two reasons: 1) fear and 2) family.

That fear was a good fear; that desire to provide was good.

God needed to break me of my desire for good things so I would follow Him.

In doing this, He gave me confidence and taught me the lesson of Ecclesiastes 1:3.

That day, I learned that what man gains by his toil is worthless.