When God Changes Your Job Description
What I learned about surrender when my prayers for income led to a flute instead
“There is no ideal place to serve God, except the place He set you down.”
— P. Alistair Begg
“Jill, you okay?” our pastor asked me with a concerned smile during the music ministry’s Saturday rehearsal. He would ask this again the following day during the Sunday service, “Jill, you good?” I would quickly return a smile, a thumbs up, and a cheerful “Yes!”, sometimes maybe too quick, I’m not sure if the pastor believed it was true. I was okay, but if ever it didn’t look that way, it was likely the part of me that still couldn’t believe I was actually playing in an ensemble for the past six months!
When I left my job in academia last December, my prayers initially sounded like, “Please lead me to a new source of income where the work is aligned with your will for my life.” And an opportunity did come. It was as if the job description (JD) was written for me! I applied in December and finished all the interviews and exam in January to the point that the executive director was already discussing my salary and in what project I would be assigned to. I was supposed to review and sign the job contract in the last week of that month and then begin in February. The contract never came. What did God schedule for me instead? Water baptism. I was baptized exactly on February 1, 2025.
I still kept praying in February for a source of income and found another opportunity, this time to study and do research abroad with an insanely generous salary. Again, it was like the JD was made for me. I prepared and submitted my application in March and was scheduled to receive the final results in mid-April. I didn’t hear back from them, too. But God gave me something else again on April 16—a seat in our local church’s chamber ensemble as a flutist. This wasn’t part of my plan. I was looking for a job. Plus, I hadn’t played the flute in such a long time, let alone in public, that I never expected I’d actually make it in the ensemble. But He made it happen despite my impostor syndrome.1
By then, I had stopped praying for a source of income and just fully surrendered myself to Him. My plans weren’t working anyway, no matter how logical they seemed to be. I made a decision to follow where He leads me despite all uncertainty. It seemed like a crazy decision. But if there was one thing I learned in church the past year, it was to trust in God’s character, not in the circumstances of the world. Never mind if I wanted a worldly job that would pay the bills. Never mind if I wanted to study and work in another country that actually valued researchers. Never mind if I wanted to build a startup that advocated for Filipino researchers’ dignity. It didn’t matter what I deemed to be good because in the end, it is Him who knows what is best for me. God doesn’t always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we need. If He called me to play music, then I will play music for as long as He wants me to. I trust Him with my life.
After half a year of serving in the music ministry, I’m deeply grateful that He planted me here. Music helped quiet my mind, which eventually led me to the path of independent scholarship and building HEED Impact Studios™. More importantly, I learned so much about Him:
Our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:5). By placing me in an unfamiliar environment, i.e., the ensemble, I was reminded that the beginner’s mindset requires humility and curiosity. Humility opens the door to learning, curiosity drives it forward. As I recently learned from my daily devotional: “Our inadequacy shows the adequacy of Christ.”
The Lord disciplines the one He loves (Hebrews 12:6). Playing music requires practice, and practice requires discipline. I love how Hebrews 12:11 describes it, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” He is developing in me the discipline of showing up, actively listening, learning from mistakes, and continuously moving forward.
The Lord is in my midst (Zephaniah 3:17).
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
My heart was crying with so much pain late last year. Through His grace, He severed me completely from the cause of that pain and embraced me so tightly with His Word, with family, friends, and a church community that brought me ever so close to Him. He turned the pain into something beautiful—music. Music that heals, exults, and proclaims His majesty!
I will probably never understand how and why an amateur flutist like me was given the honor of playing for Him and helping lead His congregation into worship every communion Sunday. I was nervous these past months and, at times, doubtful and afraid that I might be kicked out of the ministry because I wasn’t good enough. But God never demands perfection from imperfect beings like us. He planted me in this ministry, so I will keep serving cheerfully, willingly, and wholeheartedly.
Am I okay? Absolutely. :) 2
“Jesus Paid It All” — the first piece I played with the chamber ensemble
Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” — Exodus 4:11-12
So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” — Hebrews 13:6
Jill, I love this post and it arrived in my inbox - of course - just as needed. Thank you.