Are the Gates of Hell Pushed Back By What I Am Doing?

Not to brag, but I’ve quit quite a few jobs in my life.

I’ve worked jobs that were fulfilling, and I’ve worked jobs that were the opposite. I know what it’s like to be in a toxic work environment.

I’ve also ended up in positions I never should have accepted, because I saw the need. They needed someone! Nobody else was stepping up, and I could help! I’ve always been a reformer at heart, and sometimes it’s hard to say no to an opportunity to bring reformation in a place I know needs it.

That’s how I found myself in one particular job that I’d just started. I didn’t enjoy it, but I needed the income and they needed my help. I figured I could provide what they needed for a season while I figured out what God wanted me to do next. I didn’t see any better options at the time and I thought I might be able to find purpose there.

I did not. It didn’t take long to realize this job was not for me, but I’m responsible to the extreme and I take the verse seriously that says “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.”

But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.

Matthew 5:37 AMP

I was miserable. My spirit was grieved, because I knew now with absolute clarity that this job was not God’s will for me. But I couldn’t quit so soon after just getting hired! It had been less than a month. How would that make me look? Where would that leave my employer? I felt guilty leaving after such a short time, and I was agonizing over what to do next.

Then one day, my eyes glanced over to the neon Post-It that had been stuck on my nightstand for months. I can’t even remember what momentary thought led me to passionately write down this phrase, but there it was, brightly staring me down:

Are the gates of hell pushed back by what I am doing?

At some point, these words had come to me, and they’d become a measure for me when making decisions on how to spend my time. I didn’t want to waste my life, and this phrase provided a test to determine what I should and should not say yes to.

Are the gates of hell pushed back by my work in this job?

I knew instantly that the answer was no, and I also knew instantly that I needed to put in my notice. I could not continue in good conscience, knowing I was wasting my time in a job that didn’t push back the gates of hell one iota, especially knowing there were so many other opportunities where I could actually make a difference. I knew I could make more of a difference even in some of the most unappealing options.

So I did it: I quit. I was nervous and I felt so bad, but my supervisor took the news very well and even let me finish sooner than I had requested.

I’m so glad I didn’t listen to all the What will people think of me? thoughts and just obeyed. God’s thoughts matter more, anyway, and his opinion should trump all others in my life.

The heavens didn’t open and provide me an absolute dream job immediately following that difficult decision, but I felt immensely more at peace, because I had obeyed. I suspect God saved me from a lot more distress in that job by getting me out when he did. Despite all my worries, I quit shortly after starting without really ruffling any feathers and without ever looking back.

In every job since, the ones I’ve liked and the ones I haven’t, I have been able to unequivocally say, “The gates of hell are being pushed back by what I am doing.” Other people might not see it, but I know the difference. It is possible to have kingdom influence in any area as long as God leads you there. I will never accept another job that doesn’t meet that standard. Life is too short, and God has put me – and you – on this earth for a reason. It’s up to us to obey.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18 ESV

May the gates of hell be pushed back by what you are doing every day – at work, at home, and in your community. You were made to be a difference-maker!