Need advice about a Sabbath matter

[Sebastian]

Hi Everyone,

I need some advice concerning the Sabbath and my work and I'm hoping you might have some thoughts for me that could help me understand what god wants me to do here.

I have an education and am working self-employed in video production and I frequently have to turn down job offers that are on or run over the Sabbath. This way it's not so easy to find jobs and keep business relationships in my field, but so far it worked with dedication and effort. On the side it was possible to do work for the church which is financially not possible full time where I come from.

Last year, due to a larger sickness I've had a big blow to my finances and I've had trouble to recover which is now coming back to me. I was praying for god to get me out of this situation and to show me where he wants me with my abilities. I want to follow him and I'm ready to accept his will.

This week I got a job offer that could give me a long-time basis and help me recover from the financial problems. It involves recording classical concerts and it would span over a year and more and provide a constant income.

Due to the nature of classical concerts I'm convinced it would also involve work falling on the Sabbath, which I could and would, as I would be in a leading position, not do, but instead give to a colleague who is working on Sabbath.

Here's where I'm hesitant. I know my colleague is working on Sabbath anyway, but since I'm in a partly leading position I would feel somewhat responsible for someone working on Sabbath instead of me.

I wonder what god wants to tell me about this, which I'm ready to accept. It seems both like a coincidence that this big job offer comes just 2 days after my big financial breakdown and constant praying. And also just when I wanted to turn the job down the meeting was cancelled and only because of that I happened to have a conversation about it with my church elder, who said I should give it more thought, so I didn't turn it down yet.

In the bible I've read the passage in the 10 commandments where it seems god also tells us that the people we're responsible for shouldn't work on Sabbath either. I wonder how this would apply to my situation. I'm not the one deciding when the concerts are, or which to record, but I'd be asked and obliged to come up with a solution, which would mean giving it to someone else.

So far I've only had jobs where I was either the decision maker and could just not have anyone do anything on Sabbath, or where I was asked to work and could just decline. But this long term position would mean being in the middle. Our church elder said most people couldn't find work if what I understood applied to my situation and that I should pray about it.

I do. And I don't want to take all this lightly. It's a big decision. And I also hope you might have a thought or two regarding this matter. Or maybe you know a passage in the bible that will tell me what he wants to tell me.

A blessed end of the week to all of you. And thanks for reading so far and your help.

Sebastian

[Woody]

Appreciate your sincerity regarding Sabbath keeping. Each person must come up with principles that they are convicted with. My opinion is of little value. This is a personal matter for you. But as for me .... as long as you are doing the thinking and decision making on non-Sabbath hours .... I see no problem. We can't be responsible for others convictions. Just my slant on it. And I consider myself a very conservative Sabbath keeper.

[LynnDel]

This is a tricky situation. As far as assistants who would be doing the recording over the Sabbath hours, are they working for you, or are they working for those who hired you?

LD

[JoeMo]

Each person must come up with principles that they are convicted with. My opinion is of little value. This is a personal matter for you.

I agree totally with Woody. Sabbath-keeping is between an individual and God. Is someone who is sitting in Sabbath School, Worship, or Vespers and his/her mind is on the job, the stock market, or the party tonight, are they keeping the Sabbath? If they are on the job and praying in their head and meditating on Jesus, are they breaking the Sabbath? If I go to a restaraunt and eat on Sabbath, am I causing a server to break the Sabbath? If we go home to eat and my wife heats up the food and cleans the dirty dishes, is she breaking the Sabbath? These are all questions that we must answer for ourselves. No one (except the Holy Spirit) can answer them for us; and His answer for you might be different than His answer for me.

WARNING: I am less consevative than Woody.

[LifeHiscost]

Hello Sebastian,

I wouldn't even begin to tell you what you should do, other than you can't go wrong by placing God in management of your life. Just to give you an example of how far God may let us go sometimes, before He steps in to move us in a different direction, I refer you to the story in the Bible about when Abraham was told to take his only son upon the mount, to sacrifice him to the Lord.

Abraham's response was phenomenal when you consider the circumstances. But his response of trusting God stands as an example to this day, to help each of us never to let go of God's promises, no matter how dark the circumstances might be.

I had an experience a long time ago where I had been recently unemployed, looking for work and answered an ad with a promise of employment approximately 250 miles from my then present location. The only problem was the work was in a large city and I was aware of the counsel that Christians were to seek to leave the large cities for smaller towns, prepatory to moving to the country.

At the time I was single so had no family responsibilities but OTOH normal rent and other expenses made me want to get back to work as soon as possible. Plus the work promised somewhere around $15,000 more annually than I had been use to making.

To make a long story short, after being interviewed and accepted for the job on the spot, I made the decision not to accept, based on what I felt was God's desire for me to trust Him for something more in keeping with His will.

Some at this point might be able to reveal how the Lord opened up much more enviable circumstances. I can't say the same thing.

All I can truly say is I've never gone without a needed meal nor did my choice stop me from finding an eventually fulfilling married life, to a woman who also believes that seeking Jesus for answers and letting Him manage our lives is the best choice. And we've found this promise below literally fulfilled in our mutual experiences since that time.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."John 14:27 NASB

God is Love! Jesus saves!

[phkrause]

That's always a tough one. My wife used to work every other Sabbath when she was an RN. Than one day she decided that she didn't want to work on Sabbath anymore. There are those that feel that if they are doing a service type of job its OK to work others don't. There was a guy that used to be on one of the SDA forums that was a plumber. After Sabbath he went over to where families lived that couldn't afford a plumber, he would work on there plumbing for free.

[Woody]

Good Post PK. Yes .... that plumber was a good witness for those people and also he was often a good witness on that forum.

[Sebastian]

Thank you very much for all those earnest answers. To be honest I didn’t expect so much thought and commitment to my post. Thank you.

Finding these replies and the words within was a blessing for me today, for a different reason, especially this one: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."John 14:27 NASB

Concerning the thoughts about my job situation it’s just helpful to see other people with a similar mindset remind me about the importance of the personal relationship to god and trusting that he is the one who can manage my life best. His timing takes getting used to, but at the end I suppose it strengthens our trust and is even the best for us.

Thanks also for the story about your unemployment LifeHiscost and the story about the plumber.

Now I wish you all a blessed Sabbath!

[LifeHiscost]

And thank you for your thoughtful response, Sebastian. All I am is a seed sower and you'd be surprised how many responses are more suiting to this Word. That's why your response is so appreciated.

Go in peace brother And likewise have a

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."

Luke 12:34-36 KJV

God is Love! Jesus saves!

[phkrause]

Sebastian