Should you quit your job?

“Quite often we change jobs, friends and spouses instead of ourselves.”

— Akbarali Jetha

The typical American spends eight or more hours a day at work but that’s just the start of it. Add up the commute time, the time spent in personal preparation, and the time decompressing in the evening and you’ll find that work consumes a majority of your waking hours.

It is no wonder that work can invade even our quietest moments. How many nights have you stretched out on your bed, wide awake, replaying the day’s events? You recall the criticisms being thrown around, the personality clashes, the seemingly impossible deadlines, and the overbearing bosses.

Then a thought begins to worm its way in between your ears. An innocent notion that flies in from out of nowhere, just a quiet whisper, “I’ve got to find something better.” And for some of us this errant thought can take on a much darker tone. “I can’t stand this place.” Many of us can hear Johnny Paycheck singing the chorus of his anti-workplace anthem. “I want to quit my job,” you hear the voice say!

For many of us, the job feels as if it has become a cruel form of punishment, our own personal prison where we are serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. We’re told what to do and how to do it. We’re told when to take a break and when to eat. The warden with his keys strolls past the cubicle to make sure the work is being done. Deviation from the norm results in punishment. You long for contact with the outside world, for a bit of sunshine, a ray of hope.

So should you quit your job?

For the believer this becomes a tough question. We should never make decisions based just on money – since we know that these decisions are rarely based on giving God honor. And we shouldn’t walk just because we can’t get along, since that destroys the concept of inter-personal relationships that God has redeemed.

What do you think? Post a comment. Let’s talk about when it is appropriate to leave a job.
Or, what does it take to ‘take this job and LOVE it?’

** David Rupert


“So why do you call me ‘Lord,’ when you won’t obey me? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me.”
— Luke 6:46-47 NIV