Many are the times that we think our children should pursue a particular career path. We try all we can to push them in that direction. One child once asked the mother whether she would not consider his opinion before deciding on a particular career for him. The child thought he was of age and should have an input in what his career would be in the future. For parents, that is not the case. “I want you to be a doctor”. “I want you to be a pilot”. That is the end of the matter. Oftentimes we fail to realize that, God, the Creator has a particular agenda and purpose for bringing that child into the world. Why is this child born at this particular point in time? There definitely must be a divine reason and purpose for that child. God told Jeremiah
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”; Jeremiah 1:5. In Psalm 139:16, David said, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”.
One of the reasons many live unfulfilled lives is that they have deviated from what God intended for them.
The Bible has many examples of what God intended people to be in the future. Apart from Jeremiah, God’s purpose for people such as John and our Lord Jesus was foretold. For example, before the birth of Samson, God had told the parents through an angel that Samson would one day deliver the Hebrews from the hands of the Philistines. The angel gave specific instructions as to how Samson had to be raised: A razor should not touch his hair and he should not eat just anything.
Many parents push their children outside God’s purpose for their lives. A lot of parents push their children into certain careers because their children can easily get employed. With the escalating rate of unemployment, parents are certain their children will have ready jobs upon completion of school. Is it not surprising that during career days at various schools all the children want to become doctors, lawyers, engineers etc.?
Children who want to become farmers, archaeologists, or carpenters and the like are mocked and called all kinds of names. If all of us want to be lawyers who will be the farmer to feed us? At other times, parents relish the prestige associated with certain professions. How proud they would be when they introduce their children as lawyers, psychologists, doctors, and so on. Rightly so. Because society at large admires and holds in high esteem people who practice such professions.
One thing we have to take into consideration is that God fashioned everyone with unique abilities and potential. He fashioned everyone with unique abilities and potential to solve a particular problem or problem. No human being is on earth by chance or by accident. God has specific assignments for each one of us. This informs how certain people can do better in a given task than others. For example, the phone in my hand right now was created to achieve a certain purpose by the manufacturer. The purpose of the phone informed the way the manufacturer created it. The phone can be used to serve only the purpose for which it was created.
This phone should be able to respond to calls, send text messages, record videos, and many more. The phone cannot be used as a chair because it is not intended or fashioned as such.
So, when children are not equipped to solve the problem of patients at the hospital and we push them to become medical doctors, we are doing a great disservice not only to that child but to the whole of humanity.
The reason is that the child will not live to bless his generation with his unique calling and gifting. Maybe God intended that particular child to solve the problem of waste recycling and yet we have succeeded in making that child a medical doctor.
So, what is the best way to guide children to pursue a particular career as a parent? As I said earlier, God has a master plan for every one of his creations. Your child is not an exception. So to start with, go to the master planner and ask what His plan for your child is. Jesus said in John 16:13, “Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak of himself but that which he hears that shall he say.
He will shew you things to come.” We have the Holy Spirit as our guide. All we have to do is to ask him. Ask him for his blueprint for that particular child. He is more than willing to guide you into that. We serve a God who speaks. After all, He has the master plan. He told Moses concerning the building of the tabernacle that he should build according to the pattern that He had shown him. We can identify their career path, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Another way we can do that is by closely observing our children. What do they like to do best? At what activity are they their best? What excites them? What gives them maximum satisfaction? What engages their attention the most? What are they attracted to? These and many questions would give you a clue to the God-given abilities in your children. As our children grow up, we can help them to take personality tests. These tests will bring out their strengths and weaknesses. So that when we are guiding them we are sure to encourage them in the area in which they are supposed to function.
As you might have observed, fish does not struggle in water but when it is out of the water, it struggles. One sure way to set our children up for failure is to force them into careers that are not created or suitable for. In His wisdom, God has endowed every human being with unique abilities and potential. Our mandate is not to try to change and alter what God has deposited in them but rather with His help we can unearth their unique potentials thereby raising them to fulfill their purpose on earth.