Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Prov 3:5)

God created you as a unique, whole, infinitely complex individual. You bring a distinctive contribution to the organization where you work. Your primary attributes are the ones where you make the most meaningful contributions through your work, and where you find the most satisfaction in your job. However you have many other minor attributes that make you uniquely you, and enable you to do your role in a way that is just slightly different to the way the next person will perform that role.

If you experience twinges of dissatisfaction or unrest in your current role – Rejoice! Rejoice that God has created you with infinitely more facets than other people recognize, or that you may realize yourself, or that you are using at this time. Prayerfully consider how you might be able to use these attributes, within the political constraints of your role, to maximize your value to your employer. If you are a manager, look for attributes in your team beyond what you hired them for. Find creative ways to allow your staff to use their talents and to express their infinitely complex beauty.

Sometimes you may find yourself in a job where you believe your value is not fully appreciated. Or you may believe you are able to contribute more to the organization, or you feel that you would be more fulfilled if you were able to use your skills in a different role. When you focus your attention and energy on the apparent injustice or inequality of your situation it is easy to become negative and lose sight of God. If that is the way you feel today, I invite you to step back for a moment, to abandon the illusion that you are in control of this world, and reflect on God’s character. Does God change when you feel like you are a square peg in a round hole? Does God’s love for you, or the hope that you have, or your salvation disappear when you feel like your skills are being under-utilized? Did God make a mistake when he placed you in this position? Is this situation beyond God’s redemptive power? Can you trust that this job, for right now, is part of God’s perfect plan for your life?

Whether you feel like your current job is a great fit for who you are, or you feel like your job situation is less than ideal, continue to trust in the love and care of your Heavenly Father! God says to you “my child, trust me, I am sovereign, I am in control, I love you. I have placed these people in authority over you, I have appointed their times and boundaries, I love you.” Make it your goal to please God. Give thanks to the Lord that you have been granted the privilege to participate in what God is doing in your workplace.

What would it take in your current job to say that “I have learned to be content in this job”?

What does it look like for you to trust in God as you go about your work?

With what is happening in your workplace, can you identify with one Biblical character who experienced something similar? (i.e. Joseph) Re-read their story. How does their example inspire you?

Prayer 

Gracious Father, Thank you for your love. We praise you that you are sovereign, and that you are in control. Forgive us for when we fail to trust you. Strengthen us today, so that we may live our lives pleasing in your sight. Amen 

What is mankind that you are mindful of them,human beings that you care for them? (Ps 8:4)

God delights over you! God sings over you! God rejoices over you! God loves you with a love that exceeds your expectations! You live and move and have your being in Christ. Rejoice that the transcendent, all powerful, all knowing God is personally intimate with you everywhere you go, including at your workplace and as you go about your daily routine, just as Christ is with you at church on Sunday, or in your small group.

God’s compassions are new every morning. God cannot be corrupted by what is going on around you. He is the faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Just at as the Lord faithfully provided Manna for his people when they travelled through the wilderness, God’s righteousness and justice will daily come to light in the midst of the apparent chaos of the world.

As you recognize the righteous presence of the living God in your workplace, you represent to the world around you that there is a righteousness greater than man’s. As you use the skills and talents that God has blessed you with in the daily routine of your job you are worshipping God and bringing glory to his name. As you do your work with integrity, with excellence, with diligence and with joy you demonstrate to a watching world the reality of Christ’s presence. Rely on the wisdom of God that is calling out to you in the marketplace, so that you can live a life of righteousness in your workplace.

Prayer

Father thank you that you love us, and personally intimate with us everywhere we go. May your righteousness and justice daily come to light. Help us to grasp the length and breadth and height and depth of love you have for us. Amen.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth (Acts 17:24a)

Receive what you have, and what you use today with Thanksgiving. Everything you have and everything you use exists only because God created this universe. All the natural resources that form what you and I enjoy today were created by God. The individuals who skillfully take these raw materials and shape them into what we are now enjoying were blessed with their talents by God. The laws of nature which you rely upon to design and build everything you have are principles established by the Lord of Heaven and Earth when he created the universe.

There are no little jobs, and no little people in God’s Kingdom. Every role is vitally important in God’s kingdom. Architects and engineers designing a new building use the principles of engineering that are inherent in the world God created. Construction crews use the natural resources that God created, to build a new building. Accountants brings order to the finances of a building project, just as God brought order into the universe he created. Equally important are the baristas serving coffee to the architects, engineers, accountants and the construction crew. Baristas brew coffee from coffee plants that can be traced back to the first plants God planted in the garden to feed us.

As you do your work, you are fulfilling the mandate that God gave each of us in Genesis to fill the earth and to be responsible for it. As you go about your job today acknowledge that God is the creator and Lord of all the things that you have. As you celebrate the privilege you have to use what God has created; as you discover and follow the principles of God’s world, you are constantly reminding those around you, that this is our Father’s world and not just a random collection of particles.

Prayer

Gracious Father, we thank you for creating us, and blessing us with everything that we have. Forgive for the times when we take things for granted. Help us to live our lives in such a way that all those who are watching us know that is your world. Amen