Presented by Lauren Stibgen

Are you an expert at something? Perhaps you have gone to school for an advanced degree in a specific subject. Your deep knowledge uniquely qualifies you among your peers and shows people just how qualified you are, but suddenly your expertise is no longer welcomed. People don’t seem to appreciate what you have to say or care about your accomplishments and accolades.

We have considered different people in the Bible who seemed disposable. Let’s explore an ultimate expert who was easily dismissed or disposed of—Jesus.

In Scripture, we learn of Jesus’ innate knowledge of the Word. In Luke 2:42-47, Jesus is only 12 years old when his parents take him to Jerusalem for the customary Passover. When the feast ends, they leave, but Jesus stays. Frantically searching as parents would, they go back and find him.

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers (Luke 2:46-47).

Surely, we know Jesus is the Son of God, which is ultimately why he knows the Word, but here Jesus establishes this at the young age of 12.

After his baptism by John, we know Jesus is led into the wilderness for 40 days and tempted by Satan. When Satan tempts him in his hunger, Jesus answered, “It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone” (Luke 4:4).

Again, he establishes for us a deep knowledge and reliance on the Word of God.

As he began his ministry, Jesus taught in the synagogues of Galilee and was glorified by all (Luke 4:15). But then he went home to Nazareth. Going to the synagogue he read from Isaiah, and while they spoke well of him and marveled, someone asks, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” You can read more about this interaction in Luke 4, but it ends with them driving Jesus to the edge of town, attempting to throw him off a cliff. Why? Because he quotes Scripture about himself, and no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

Throughout the Gospels, we read about Jesus’ rebuke of the religious leaders for their actions and, well, inactions. Using Scripture the leaders of the day knew richly, he showed their hypocrisy repeatedly, ultimately leading to such great jealousy that they called for his crucifixion.

Those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior know all of this was part of God’s plan to redeem his people and the world. Jesus lived as an expert to the ultimate sacrifice of being disposed on the cross, but he rose on the third day and has eternal life at the right hand of the Father! God’s plans are always greater.

When you feel dismissed for your expertise and deep knowledge, rather than leaning into discouragement, pray to the Lord! How will he use your unique talents and gifts for his glory?

Today our professional experience and expertise are always on display. From LinkedIn to TedX, to being a member of a coveted organization, if you aren’t on display, it can feel like you aren’t qualified for what is next professionally. Maybe it is a title or the way someone dresses at work. Perhaps you hope to attend meetings or a company offsite but weren’t selected.

Remember, like Leah, God has a plan just for you!

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

You are not enough. You feel second to everyone else, and you just can’t seem to find your place at work. Feelings of being inadequate or left out are more common at work than we talk about. An AI overview of this, highlights that these feelings can negatively impact well-being and productivity, leading to loneliness, anger, shame, and even disengagement or turnover. This isn’t good for you as an employee, and it isn’t good for you if you are an employer either. What can we do when we or our employees feel disposed of?

Let’s consider Leah, the older sister of Rachel who was sought after by Jacob. We have already explored the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers. It started here—with their mothers!

Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful (Genesis 29:17).

Jacob sought to marry Rachel and worked for seven years to earn her hand in marriage. What’s worse, after serving the seven years, he was duped into marrying Leah—not Rachel! You can read the entire story in Genesis 29, but Jacob works another seven years for Rachel. Leah bears many sons and a daughter for Jacob, and Rachel only two children—Joseph and Benjamin.

As we did for the bleeding woman, let’s place ourselves in Leah’s shoes. Culturally she would be the first to marry. The description of her isn’t much and her sister is described as beautiful. She likely grew up knowing she was not pretty like Rachel and then faced knowing a potential husband did not really want her. She was forced into the marriage by her father, Laban. Jacob was angry at her father’s deception but accepted her. However, she was never favored. She was easily dismissed—disposable. Her children were not as loved as the children of Rachel.

The sons of Jacob would become the 12 tribes of Israel. And ultimately a descendant of Leah—the easily dismissed wife—would come our savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. The opinions of man didn’t matter; God had a great plan for Leah.

Today our professional experience and expertise are always on display. From LinkedIn to TedX, to being a member of a coveted organization, if you aren’t on display, it can feel like you aren’t qualified for what is next professionally. Maybe it is a title or the way someone dresses at work. Perhaps you hope to attend meetings or a company offsite but weren’t selected.

Remember, like Leah, God has a plan just for you!

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

Have your dreams and ideas ever impacted you at work? Or maybe how much positive attention you receive from a boss? Either way, big ideas and favor from up top can often intimidate others, and it can sometimes leave you feeling easily dismissed, disposable by your peers.

One of the greatest leaders in all of Israel’s history had dreams of his greatness. His name was Joseph. One could argue he should have had a little more emotional intelligence than to share such a bold dream with his jealous brothers, but it was all part of God’s plan to have Joseph save Israel. In Genesis 37 we learn Joseph was loved by Jacob more than any of his other brothers.

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him (Genesis 37:4).

On top of the favoritism shown to Joseph by his father, he shared his dreams which indicated that his brothers, mother, and father would one day bow down to him. In Genesis 37:11, we learn his brothers are jealous of him.

Following these dreams, we learn Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers and bring back information on their well-being. This is when the jealousy gets the best of his brothers. First, they contemplate killing Joseph. Then, they find more benefit in selling him into slavery. Moreover, they faked his death and told poor Jacob he had died by an animal attack.

The story of what happens to Joseph continues in Genesis 38-46. Being disposed of by his jealous brothers wasn’t the end of his hardship. However, we see God had great plans for him. When the famine was bad, his brothers set out to Egypt for food. Joseph, now overseeing all of Pharoah’s kingdom, saved his brothers and father from starvation.

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance (Genesis 45:7).

Clearly, God chose Joseph to be a leader. He placed dreams in Joseph’s mind that perhaps gave him hope during some of the worst trials we could ever imagine. To his brothers, he was disposable. For God’s plans, he was not.

Being in leadership as a trusted advisor is a coveted position that can often lead to isolation and attack from peers and even subordinates. Jealousy and covetousness creep in and peers at work soon can work against you. This can lead to feelings of being thrown away or disposed of.

In these times, trust that the Lord may be bringing you closer to him, and into a new position for his glory.

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

The last several years of praying with women has opened my eyes to how physical and mental health can impact people at work. A physical disability (seen or unseen) or mental health challenges like anxiety or depression can lead to feelings of being no longer useful or dismissed—disposable.

In Matthew, Mark and Luke, we find the story of the bleeding woman. Mark 5:25-34 tells us this woman has suffered from a discharge of blood for 12 years. She has suffered, seen many physicians, spent all she had, and was no better for it. Culturally, this woman would have been unclean. While this is not written, let’s pause to think of her. First, she is in physical discomfort. Perhaps she is constantly tired because she is constantly bleeding. Because she was unclean, she was socially isolated and could not work—even if she wanted to. This isolation likely created even more loneliness and despair. The financial burden would have only compounded this.

If we were to transport her to today perhaps, she would be unable to work due to this condition. Her mental and financial state likely would be similar. If she needed to work, imagine the stress of managing this bleeding every day.

While this woman was disposable to society, she was not disposable to Jesus. Her desperation and faith in knowing that Jesus was healing people led her into the crowds to simply touch the hem of his garment. This woman was instantly healed.

Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering (Mark 5:34).

Throughout Scripture, we see Jesus healing people who were outcasts. He gladly touched and healed the lepers, the blind, the disabled. It was his mercy and their faith in his healing power that was on display. None of them were disposable to Jesus!

Are you invertedly causing some employees to feel disposable? One of the women I am blessed to be in community with has lived with a hidden disability for many years. It can cause her severe physical pain, migraines, and gastrointestinal issues. One look at this executive leader and you would never know how much she endures to get through her days. Recently she has become an advocate for herself and for others at work who cannot participate in physical activities planned during a retreat. Golf, pickleball, and horseback riding are not possible for her. She advocated for an alternative and helped her CEO see how these activities made her feel “dispensed with” while others were having fun.

As followers of Jesus Christ, how can we see others as Jesus saw the bleeding woman, the lepers, the blind, and disabled? We are called to love them like Jesus did. To him, they were perfect.

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

During one of our recent Walking Worthy podcast conversations with a fellow ministry leader and friend, we talked about the sensitive feeling of being disposable. This word sums up being cast away or used up and can summon thoughts of some of our deepest hurts whether at work or in other aspects of our lives. But being disposable is not part of our God-given identity.

As an adjective, the word disposable is defined as intended to be used once, or until no longer useful, and then thrown away; or to be able to be dispensed with or easily dismissed. As a noun, disposable is defined as readily available for use as required, or an article to be thrown away after use.

When we focus our identity on what the world says of us, this definition can truly impact how we feel. I would argue this is one of the roots of imposter syndrome in our work culture today.

Feeling like our talent is no longer useful or valued can play on repeat in our professional mind, leading us to feel like we’re no longer qualified for the work we set forth to accomplish. In fact, I see this repeatedly with executive level women. The worst part is women in leadership roles are contributing to this feeling in other women! Intentional or not, our actions and words and our inaction or lack of words can leave those around us feeling disposable.

Let’s explore this worldly “disposable” identity through a biblical lens. There are truly remarkable heroes in the Bible the world disposed of, but God used for his glory! Perhaps in our reading of them, we may not have stopped to consider their feelings. I have learned throughout the years that we often focus on the glory without pausing to see ourselves in the feelings of those God has truly used for his purposes.

Do you have a hidden or other disability which has caused you to feel disposed? Maybe you have a vision of greatness of which has been disposed. Have you ever felt less than or not good enough? Perhaps you were the perfect expert for a job but simply were rejected.

All these situations exist in God’s Word! They play out in the lives of real people who had a greater identity to God than they did to their fellow man or woman!

I will not stop reminding you of Ephesians 2:10, but today I want to phrase it for you simply. You are created perfectly as you are by God in Christ Jesus to do just what you are doing right now. God prepared your path before you were even born. All you need to do is walk forward. You are not disposable.

Presented by Lauren Stibgen

This year marked my third reading of the Bible cover to cover in a year. It isn’t a literal page by page turn from cover to cover, but a reading plan that jumps between the Old and New Testaments and a Psalm each day. My experience with reading the Bible in its entirety has proved that the Word of God continues to have new revelation to me as a believer with every read—even when I have already seen the words countless times.

Recently, I have been lingering with one single verse in Psalm. Psalm 84:10 reads: Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Numerous things about this verse jumped out to me but the one-word title I cannot ignore is doorkeeper—simply, the person on duty at the entrance of a building. My mind was flooded with doorkeepers. Do they still exist today? They do. The person who greets you at a nice hotel, someone taking a ticket at a movie theater, a guard at an office building.

As I pondered the vocation of being a doorkeeper, I thought about describing my role to someone if they asked me about what I do for a living. I thought about what financial compensation a doorkeeper would receive. If this was my profession, would I have pride in my work or feel lowly? Simply, would I be content being a doorkeeper in the house my God? After so many years of exploring education and training in leadership and law, would I be OK just greeting people at the door?

I thought about the spaces this verse described. God’s courts and the tents of wickedness. Courts feel grand, lovely, important, royal. Tents feel dirty, small, out in the wilderness, primitive. Where would I want to dwell?

Often, we choose a tent. While it may not be intentional, we are easily caught up in the worldly aspects of what success looks like in the form of a title or our position on the corporate ladder. We settle for the tent of wickedness and forget to look at the glorious, beautiful royal courts in the house of God.

When we are caught up in this world, we miss that the doorkeeper has a position of great importance. She is a doorkeeper in the house of God. If we stop and take a humble approach to our identity at work (leadership), we can see that we are doorkeepers to the house of God right where we are at work, and there is no better position we could every enjoy.

Jesus is clear in his call to us as his followers. In Mathew 28:19-20 he exhorts, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all I have commanded you.

How do we show up with the posture of a humble doorkeeper? Whether we are truly a doorkeeper or if we hold positions of leadership, we should consider this royal appointment with humility. If we consider our identity with God, we can take comfort.

Throughout the Bible, God appointed the lowly to do great things. Consider Moses. Moses was truly resistant to the calling God had for his life to the point that he even begged God to give the job to someone else!

Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3).

As we read about Moses’ leadership of the Israelites, we see how he constantly leaned on the greatness of God to help him lead the people. In Numbers 11 we see everyone complaining about food and water and wandering. Moses is displeased and “the anger of the Lord blazed hotly” (Numbers 11:10). So, Moses grows sick of the complaining, and God is just plain mad. Since they are in this leading together, Moses tells God he cannot carry the burden alone—the burden was too heavy for him.

God answers and says, Bring me seventy men of the elders of Israel...Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit t...

What is God trying to teach you through your job? Recently a friend shared with me God is teaching her how to get along with all kinds of people, even those with whom she has some strong disagreements. These are coworkers who really needed to know Jesus, coming from different religious backgrounds and very different beliefs. She said through the years she was not—in her words—“very nice to my unbelieving coworkers.” Their discussions would often end with not so pleasant words of condemnation. She said, “I have not been quiet about it when I think they’re wrong.” When a new coworker joined their company who was very lovely, bright, and energetic, she liked her a lot, and then she discovered she was living an unbiblical lifestyle. She said, “I think the Lord has given me another chance here.”

She is learning on her job how to love the “lost sheep”—people who don’t know Jesus. She’s learning how to communicate with them in loving ways, not in harsh, condemning ways. That’s a lesson we all need, isn’t it, but you can never learn that lesson if you never interact with unbelievers. In most situations your job puts you right in the middle of many people who do not share your faith, do not know Jesus, or even people who may think your commitment to Christ is fanatical. How do you build friends and share the love of Jesus with people like that? You can learn a Christ-like attitude right there on your job.

Can you see how God is teaching you many valuable lessons through your job? You learn critical lessons about relationships—cooperation, fairness, flexibility, humility, patience—all fruits of God’s Spirit that help you to shine as a light in a dark place. You learn to forgive people who may never ask you to forgive them—who don’t even recognize or care that they have hurt you. You learn to persevere, to hang in there even when you think you can’t hang in any longer.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).

That is the path all Christ-followers are on—growing mature and complete. Perseverance helps us get there. Maybe your job is very frustrating right now and you’re thinking of leaving. Could it be that you don’t need a different job? You just need a different attitude toward the job you have.

You can grow spiritually right there where you work. Sometimes we think our spiritual growth only comes through Bible studies, church attendance, prayer, and they are all important in our lives. But you can grow much faster and in so many diverse ways if you see your job not only as a mission field but also as a classroom. Don’t miss what God wants to teach you through your job.

What are some of the most valuable things God has taught you through your job? I think we can sometimes get so weighed down with the day-to-day busyness and difficulties of our jobs that we fail to see all the good things God is doing in us and through us through those jobs. One valuable lesson you often learn in a job is how to get along with people you may not like that much.

Another thing you can learn through your job is how to cast all your care on Jesus because he cares for you. Instead of taking those problems home with you every day and dumping on your family or friends, you can learn to trust God to work all things out for your good and leave those cares and concerns in his hands, so you can spend a carefree evening with your loved ones. Do you realize how absolutely important it is to learn to draw boundaries in your thought life? To not allow yourself to think about things over which you have no control? To cast all your care on Jesus regularly—everyday—so the joy of the Lord can be your strength? That’s an eternally important thing you can learn through your job.

Jesus said to his disciples:

Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all (Mark 9:35).

When you were young, did you ever tell anyone you wanted to be a servant when you grew up? I doubt it. Yet, Jesus made it clear his disciples must learn to be a servant to all. And what better place to learn that lesson than on your job each day!

The way we serve God is by serving others, and developing a servant heart and attitude takes practice. You have to be intentional about it; you have to be humble and do it out of love for Jesus, not to get recognition. Think of ways you could serve your coworkers, your management, your employees.

You could serve by choosing to go the extra mile and help someone get their job done (even though you think they could have done it themselves if they hadn’t wasted time talking on the phone!), help someone learn a new skill, stay late to give a helping hand to your boss, doing things for which you may get no credit or recognition. These are everyday things that can teach you the joy of being a servant, and that means you’re growing more like Jesus.

What does God want to teach you through your job? I think toward the top of that list would be learning to love people you may not like that much! Your coworkers may not necessarily people you would choose to be with five days a week, eight hours a day. No doubt you have discovered not everyone is “your type,” and so you are challenged to get along with people who are not that easy to get along with.

In 1 Corinthians 13, the Bible teaches us the true definition of love. It is patient, it is kind, it looks for the good in people, not the bad, it doesn’t hold grudges, it hangs in with someone when others have given up, and it endures all things.

God’s love is an action, not necessarily a feeling, and you can choose to love someone by showing them these kinds of actions, even if you don’t like the way they behave, the way they treat you, their work habits, or their lifestyle.

Almost any job you have—and that includes working in a Christian environment—places you in the company of other people, and you have the privilege, the great opportunity, to learn to love people with God’s kind of love. That means you become more and more like Jesus, as you follow his commandment to “love one another.”

Of course, you also have the option of refusing to learn this lesson, and instead just being continually irritated and negative about the people you work with or for. You can choose to gripe and complain and blame others for your bad attitude. But all that gets you are bitter roots growing in your heart, which will cause you great pain and affect those around you, as well. But if you can see what God wants to teach you through working with difficult people, you then can turn a desert into a garden and use that tough place as your training grounds to teach you this incredibly useful and critical ability to love and get along with people you don’t like that much.

And just consider this—as you accept and learn what God wants to teach you through your job, your light for Jesus shines so much brighter. You have the great privilege of demonstrating through the way you work and the way you treat others the difference it makes when Jesus is the central focus of your life. I want to encourage you not to miss what God wants to teach you through your job. They are worthwhile lessons that will make a difference in your life and your testimony for Jesus.

You have learned skills and gained experience on your jobs that have proven very beneficial to your career, and those skills and abilities have been an important part of your growth. Just stop and think about how your jobs have taught you many skills and made you more productive and confident. I think in the midst of hectic schedules and deadlines and difficulties, it’s easy to overlook the many good things you’re learning and ways you’re growing simply by doing your job each day.

In addition, think about the many life and relationship skills you are learning, even while you’re in it. It may seem more like baptism by fire rather than a training experience. Here are some examples of the practical and important things you should be learning in a job, if indeed you’re doing a good job. You learn:

The importance of being on time.

The importance of meeting deadlines.

How to work with a team to accomplish a task.

How critical it is to fulfill your promises and commitments.

That it’s very important to do everything with excellence and avoid do-overs!

That procrastination is deadly.

That you can’t afford to let things fall between the cracks.

Those are just some of the practical things you learn when you accept the responsibility of a job. For sure a job well-done will require these kinds of skills. And if you are not willing to learn these things and grow in these areas, it will affect your progress, your promotions, and your paycheck; it will hold you back.

I would ask you to survey your work habits. Are you learning these things, or are you resisting them? Have you established a reputation within your organization of being truly committed to doing your job with excellence, to improving and learning and growing? I’ve often said a Christ-follower may not be the smartest or the most educated or the most experienced person on their job, but they can be the most dependable, the hardest worker, and have the highest level of integrity. No matter what you do or where God takes you, these characteristics will always be important to your success and to pleasing God.