When calling becomes career

I remember my first real job in the corporate world. I worked at the same company for almost five years. I started as an analyst and stayed in that role the entire time, even though I was doing much of the work my team lead handled—and sometimes even my manager’s work. There were many moments when I wanted to quit and move on. I watched colleagues switch jobs every two or three years, earn more money, and sometimes do far less work. I would often go back to my mentor, telling him I didn’t feel I should stay there anymore. At times, I even had offers from other companies. His response never changed: wait. That advice frustrated me deeply. What bothered me most was seeing others earn nearly double to what I was making. Still, I showed up the next day and kept going.

After five years, things finally shifted. I received an offer from another company for a team lead position, with more than double the pay, even though I had never officially held that title. When I asked the interviewer why they chose me, he gave two reasons. First, the way I answered questions revealed leadership. Second, I had stayed with one company for five years. Looking back, many of my colleagues earned well, but their constant movement had cost them opportunities to step into leadership. In that moment, I thanked God for the waiting, and for the mentor who told me to stay when everything in me wanted to leave. Even later, when I had multiple offers, I went back to that same mentor. He helped me compare them carefully and choose wisely. Because of that, I not only grew in my career but was also given opportunities to travel, train others, and work internationally.

As I read Judges, this experience came back to me. What shocked me wasn’t simply Israel’s sin, but that the grandson of Moses himself fell into idolatry. I understand the danger of idolizing people, but it still struck me, imagine the stories he must have heard growing up. The context matters. Judges tells us that there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. God had not disappeared. His house was still at Shiloh. Yet authority had shifted from God’s word to personal judgment.

In Judges 17-18, the Levite is introduced without a name. He leaves his allotted place, wanders until he finds opportunity, and accepts a paid role as priest to Micah’s private shrine. A Levite who is set apart for God, now serving an idol! When the Danites arrive, they recognize him. They don’t ask who he is; they already know. They offer him something better: priesthood for an entire tribe. It’s a promotion. He accepts, choosing convenience over obedience, takes the ephod and idols, and helps establish false worship in Laish for an entire tribe, while the house of God remains at Shiloh.

Scripture closes the story with a haunting line:

“They set up for themselves Micah’s carved image… all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.”

They chose, a shrine they could control, a priest they could hire, a god they could manage even though God’s presence was near and God’s word was available. This idolatory also becomes the seedbed for Jeroboem's sin in 1 Kings 12.

As I reflected on this, one contrast stood out. My calling was shaped by a mentor who told me to wait. This Levite’s calling drifted because no one stopped him, not even proximity to a godly legacy. So I leave you with this question: what is shaping your calling? The Word of God or the lucrative opportunities that come your way?