Colossians 3: 23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
A woman was at work when the babysitter called to tell her that her daughter was very sick. The woman quickly left work and stopped by the pharmacy on her way home. When she came out of the pharmacy, the now frantic woman discovered that she had locked her keys in the car. Grabbing her phone, she called home only to hear that her daughter was worse.
Looking around for help, she spotted an old, rusty coat hanger lying on the ground. She picked it up but had no idea how to use it. By this time, the woman was in a panic, so she bowed her head and prayed for help. An old rusty car pulled up and out came a dirty, greasy, bearded man wearing an old biker skull rag on his head. The woman was desperate, so she decided to be thankful for answered prayer. The man took the hanger and in less than a minute opened the car. She hugged the man and through tears of relief said, “Thank you so much! You are a very nice man!” The man replied, “Lady, I am not a nice man. I have been in prison for car theft and just got out an hour ago.” The woman hugged the man again and sobbed, “Thank you, God, for sending me a professional!”
We all want to be successful in our work. Your office may be downtown or just inside your front door. Your work clothes may be a Casper suit or jeans and t-shirt. You may be paid in cash or with crayon drawings and sticky kisses. None of these things makes us successful in the workplace. Success in the workplace is not determined by where we work…but by how we work.
The Worker’s 23rd Psalm
The Lord is my boss, and I shall not want.
He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me.
He reminds me to pray, before I speak in anger.
He restores my sanity.
He guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all I do.
Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mail, system failures, copier jams,
back-ordered supplies, unrealistic deadlines, staff shortages, budget
cutbacks, red tape, downsizing, gossiping co-workers and whining customers,
I won’t give up, for You are with me.
Your presence, peace and power will see me through.
You raise me up, even when the boss fails to promote me.
You claim me as your own, even when the company threatens to let me go.
Your loyalty and love are better than a bonus check.
Your retirement plan beats any 401K, and when it’s all said and done,
I’ll be working for you a whole lot longer!
(Author unknown)
God is Lord of all – or He is not Lord at all! Yet, we often fail to yield certain parts of life to His control. The reality is that 95% surrender is still 5% short. God wants everything we are or ever hope to be. Making Him Lord is the only way He can fully accomplish His plan and purpose in our lives. And until He is Lord, we will never be contented.
The workplace is a common area of life where we find it easy to live out our own agendas. For some reason, we seem to think that once we sit down at our desk, report for duty or clock in, we enter a “No God Allowed” zone. How sad – when He stands ready and waiting to not only equip and empower us to be the best employee we can be, but desires to pour out His blessings upon our work.
An even greater opportunity and blessing comes when God uses us in the workplace to share Him and His message of love and restoration with those who are seeking Him. God strategically places us on a chosen mission field called “job.” A fellow employee needs to see a godly response to unfair criticism. A boss needs to witness the quiet, gracious spirit of submission – even in the face of a difficult job change. A fully devoted follower may be the only person who reaches out and ministers to someone in need. Make no mistake, friend. Everyone on the job is watching to see if we are “the real deal”. It may be the most important “sermon” they ever hear.
I challenge you to do your work “unto Him” and see what He does in and through a life committed to making Him Lord of all!
Mary
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