There’s Enough Work
In The Kingdom For
Everyone
By Lisa-Jo Baker
38 Solutions
Seven years ago, I was
commuting into work to a
job that was a terrible fit,
driving hours each way with
daycare drop-offs that made
me think amputating a limb
might have been easier and
more appealing. I was stuck
in traffic. I was discovering
a desperation to write my
own stories that I didn’t know
I’d had, and I was eagerly
waiting for the time to live out
this new passion.
There was a day I arrived
at work that is printed on
my mind as clearly as a
photocopy. I remember how
the doorknob looked. It was
a kind of tarnished bronze set
into a white door in a DC row
house. It always stuck, and
my key was uselessly stubborn
to turn. I stood there trying to
turn that handle on a door
that led into a building where
I didn’t want to be at a job
I didn’t feel called to, and I
couldn’t get it to open.
My hand was on the
handle, and I can remember
exactly the clear thought
that dropped into my mind.
There’s enough work in the
Kingdom for everyone.
I stood, doorknob in hand,
and let those words just sink in
all the way down to my toes.
There’s enough work in the
Kingdom for everyone.
What she’s doing, what
they’re hosting, what your
Instagram and Facebook
friends are experiencing—
that’s their piece of the
Kingdom. That’s their plot of
land, and they’re supposed
to be working at it faithfully.
But you? You have your own
spot in the Kingdom garden.
You have your own soil
waiting for seeds and seasons
and harvest.
I kept commuting for
large chunks of my day and
writing for large chunks of
my night. And slowly, God
gave me new tools, different
opportunities, and my
piece of Kingdom garden
caught a vision and some
rain. Because of where I’d
been, what I’d despaired,
how I’d wrestled. I needed
that job and commute and
discomfort. I didn’t want
them. But I’d needed them.
No one can steal your