I’ve heard the sentiment “Bloom Where You’re Planted” all my life and agreed with it. However, recently I had an experience with one of my summer plants that made me question it—at least in some cases.

I planted a flower in an ornamental flowerpot and put it on a small table on our porch. It bloomed but stretched longingly toward the sun. Finally, I moved it to a spot on the steps to our deck where it would get more sun. It was even less happy there, looking limp and wilted. It almost stopped blooming.

At last I chose a third spot on the other end of the steps. Eureka! I had found the right spot and my plant thrived.

This experience caused me to wonder how many people spend their lives in a profession that leaves them “stretching for the sun” or  “limp and wilty?” They’re doing their best to “bloom where they’re planted” but are miserable or, at least, not thriving.

Donn is a perfect example of this. He pursued a plan to become an electrical engineer largely because it was something that pleased his father. His original plan to do three years at Goshen College and two at Purdue didn’t pan out because he wasn’t a resident of Indiana, so he got a BS in Math at Goshen, the subject he loved, and a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Purdue.

For five years, he worked as an Electrical Engineer in Sandy Lake, not miserable but not really happy. He was offered a different EE job in Pittsburgh, which he took, and went from unhappy to miserable. He hated the pressure and stress of field service work and a boss whose favorite phrase was, “What good are you anyway?”

In 1981 God rescued Donn by calling us to sing full time for a year, which took him out of the job he hated. At the end of that year, he said the words that led to freedom from his attempt to bloom where he was planted. “I don’t want to go back into engineering.”

I was stunned, but by God’s grace, I asked, “What do you want to do?” He responded, “I want to do something with my math degree.”

With nothing in mind except finding someone to counsel him on what he could do with his math degree, I suggested he talk to the career counselor at Penn State Shenango Campus.  They needed a math tutor and hired him on the spot! This later led to him being hired as an Electrical Engineering instructor, as well as teaching and tutoring math for 24 years. God had led him to a job he loved where he thrived.

 Donn never thought he wanted to teach because he only thought of teaching children, teaching in a college setting wasn’t even on his radar screen. If God hadn’t intervened, Donn might have spent his life attempting to “bloom where he was planted,” instead of doing something he really enjoyed and was gifted to do.. But God knew the gifts and abilities He’d given him, just as He knows the gifts and abilities He’s given you.

I’m not suggesting, of course, that we all quit our jobs and go in search of a job that will make us happy! But if you are miserable or apathetic about your job, begin by asking God if there is a job for which you’re better suited. Don’t spend your life “blooming where you’re planted” without exploring other avenues that might enable you to thrive.

Heavenly Father, Your Word tells us we are your handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which you have prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Help us not to settle for anything less. Amen.