Having The Right Attitude At Work

²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Col 3:23-24)

Lately, I've been feeling a little disjointed at work.  My boss is a good man, but he's a bit erratic in his leadership style and there have been times where I feel as if he's thrown his managers "under the bus".  There are snap decisions made and changes happen from the gut rather than from careful considerations.  There are also moments of loose integrity and a strange lack of trust in the culture.  I suppose there is a bit of that at every job (no job is perfect).

Through a combination of the types of occurrences above, I believe that I have lost some of the respect that I have had for him and as a consequence, I'm not very excited to go to work.  Oh, I'm getting my work done with competence and responsibility, but on the inside, I know that I'm far from enthusiastic.

Yesterday, although our team is busy doing a big project that he pushed forward two months, I got an additional request that seemed a little silly.  Tired from a long week at both work and at home, I fumed at the thought of it.  I complained in my mind at my desk and later on the drive home.

Then, I felt the Holy Spirit remind me of this verse, and ask me, "Why don't you respect the person that I have put over your authority?  Why do you complain and make your own heart bitter because of the things that you are actually paid to do?"

In a typical God-like fashion, He had cut to the chase.  Yes, I may not have the perfect boss, and there are times when he makes decisions that make our lives harder -- BUT, my boss is not the issue.

God already knew what kind of man he sent me to work for, and it was the Lord who placed me where I am.  In truth, I am working with God as my boss, and my current boss is only a conduit.

Now, there may come a time when the Lord calls me to work elsewhere at which time I will be obedient to the call and be released from my current place of work.  Nor am I a slave and bound to stay without my personal consent.  I have a choice to obey and serve where I am or to go elsewhere.

YET, if I choose to obey and choose to stay (I am hardly abused at work - the conditions are decent), I can't serve with mere competence.  I must serve with the right heart and the right attitude.

And it starts with respecting my leaders, even if they are not always worthy of respect.  It starts with a proper conduct on the inside and out.

Complaining in a poison in my own soul.  It doesn't improve a situation or make it better - rather, it enhances and brings dissatisfaction to the forefront.  Shared complaints are even worse - they sow discontent and pollute the work environment.  A dark cloud hangs over the organization that has a complaining attitude and motivation drops to the bare minimums.

Now, I'm not the only one who felt this way at work - it has been going on for a while, but I have allowed myself to participate in the dissatisfaction at work.  I need to choose to stop that.

I have a lot to learn in my field and I know this.  I also know that my boss is both a good man and a knowledgeable man.  He is generally good at what he does, and if I have a good attitude, I can take away new insights and boost my personal experience.

That can happen - if I view my job in the right light and bring a renewed passion.  I am not working for my boss, I work for Jesus.  However, my boss is to be respected because the Lord placed him over me in authority.

Lord Jesus, you have been very right in diagnosing the sickness within me. I have been bitter and complaining in my heart.  That is not the way that a man who is grateful to You should act.  Please help me to repent and to change Lord.  Please help me to be a good worker, an enthusiastic worker.  Help me to forgive truly some of the instances that have occurred in which I have felt betrayed and under-appreciated.  Let me instead realize that regardless of what may happen, You are on the throne, and Your plans for me with never be thwarted by the actions of man.

Thank You for my job.  Thank You for all that You have allowed our family to experience through this job.  Cleanse my heart and help me to stand with a clean heart once again. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

A Life Promise Fulfilled To A Young Believer (and Slacker)

Psalm 128

128 How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
² When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
³ Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
⁴ Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.

⁵ The Lord bless you from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
⁶ Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!

The above verse is a life verse for me - one that I was given in prayer and have clung to for around 12 years now.  As a relatively new, but very serious Christian those years ago,  I was a frustrated college grad who couldn't see any path forward in life.  I was single, but desperately wanted to be married.  I was working, but did not love my work or vocation.  In reality, it was my character that was very weak and immature.  However, I did love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

In prayer, I was led to open the Bible to this Psalm and when I read it, I cried and cried.  I didn't know how a life like this would be obtained because it seemed so far away, yet it was exactly what I yearned for.  A wife, healthy children, a house, and a vocation that would provide and be fulfilling.  Nothing fancy, but seemingly impossible for that young man all those years ago.

The Potter only had a lump of clay to start out with -- but little did I suspect that He would do so much...

He started with my character -- as much as I have been able, I have tried to maintain my fear of the Lord over the years.  Over that time period, I remained very single for another 4 years, but learned to give and serve others in volunteering.  Via missions, I was led to live abroad and Japan and the Philippines, eventually meeting my future wife in my travels. 

I moved back into my old career that I thought I hated as a young man, but approached it with a renewed passion for excellence and as a consequence, I have reached new heights in both competence, compensation, as well as fulfillment.

I have gotten married to a woman beyond my wildest dreams, and now have two beautiful, miraculous children.

I have a house to raise a family in...one that we call our own.

This simple Psalm, whose promises are still yet to be fully realized, has been an amazing promise of blessing to my life. Yet, the reader will notice that it is addressed to anyone who fears the Lord.  It is a general promise from God that is available to all.  

I still consider myself far from fully shaped and I know that it is through the challenges of life, not the pleasures of life, that we are shaped and improved.  I have also discovered that my biggest blessings are also my biggest trials (work, marriage, kids).

As I marvel at the blessings of God...I am in awe and awash with gratitude.  And I look forward to each day that comes and try my best to obey Him in all I do.

Respecting Our Work - Building Value

"He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys" (Prov 18:9)

As a manager, I recently had a series of staff workers in the same job over the course of the year. The first hated her job, barely performed her duties and rarely turned in a solid 6 hours day...let alone an 8 hour day. We tried to counsel her and found out that she really didn't want to work with us. However, she wanted to be fired to collect unemployment. So we let her go.

The second person was talented, but was slightly overqualified on paper. However, she needed a job so she took the staff position we offered. She started out all right, properly motivated to work, but after 4 months she lost interest and started hinting at needing a promotion (which she hadn't yet earned). After 6 months, she started coming in late and her work product suffered to the point where we had to have a series of chats on issues that we were having. There was some improvement in performance, but the economy improved and she left to a better position after 9 months.

Where this has left us is back at square one. Instead of having a trained person to take on the duties we have allocated to this staff person, we now have to train up another person from scratch. In each case, the two staff persons so resented their job, one because she didn't like the work and the other because she felt like she was better than the work (hence didn't like it), that they had begun to slip in their performance.

While the second person was better than the first person, the end result was the similar - bad attitude resulted in tardiness and shortened work days. The lack of professionalism ended up being disappointing and at the same time, for our company, very little was built that added value to our company.

Slacking off is a phenomenon that I think is more prevalent in recent times. I know it well because I have slacked off many times in my younger days. Analyzing myself, I can see that the root came from an inner weakness and a sense of self entitlement. I wanted respect in my profession without properly earning it. I wanted my work to be constantly interesting, but couldn't realize and see that unless I master the basics, the more interesting things - the artistry of a profession would never be realized. There is no substitute for experience and knowledge gained over time through experience.

There was also a moral failure in myself. I either didn't know God, or I was immature in the Lord at the time. The Bible tells us to "work as unto the Lord" (Col 3:23-24). Regardless of what role we are thrust into, do I work as unto the Lord? Do I appreciate the work granted to me enough to be earnest at it and excel at it?

I still need to ask myself these questions today. Being part of Generation X, I know that I am part of a lazy and self-entitled generation, so my propensity is towards sinfulness and slack. And slack once it goes on over time, so weakens that duties that we are assigned to steward that we end up destroying what we are supposed to keep watch over.

Lord, in the example of my two recent staff, I also see a lot of myself in them. But understanding their reasons for slack doesn't justify it. You have helped me to improve over my past sins of slack, but I know that I still need to be vigilant. Please help me to keep dedicated to my work and to respect that place that you have put me for this season. Thank you for all the opportunities that you've provided to me and the place I am honored to serve in. May I represent You most of all. In the matchless name of Jesus, AMEN.

Letting God Take Our Burdens and Stress

"Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt 11:28-30)

What a killer week! We are going through a quarterly close and we lost a day with the July the 4th holiday weekend. In this case none of our standard deadlines moved while the workload stayed the same. On top of that a slew of work related issues came up which further decreased my free time to do my standard duties by 50%.

My wife had to also deal with my prolonged absences which caused her to have a draining week of caring for my daughter by herself. So for our family it was a tough situation.

The Lord woke me early this morning however because He reminded me that I really need to come apart and be with Him. Jesus Himself set the example for us when He would rise early to be apart from the crowds in quiet while praying to the Father. In truth, these quiet moments are really the best times that I have. All of my days are spent driving, working, meeting, chatting, watching, or even playing. But, how much of that is spending some consistent one to one time with the Lord? Very little.

What the Lord also keyed upon when He woke me was the fact that I have been absorbing a lot of blows during the week. Blows from the sales guys who are trying to book excessive revenues, blows from trying to please my boss, blows from trying to manage my staff, blows from the stress that my wife needs to vent to me, and blows from trying to watch over my child. Yes, the blows come from everywhere and I'm good at absorbing them -- to a point. At some point, the accumulated stress will lead to a breakdown.

That's precisely what happened to me at my previous job. I had tried to take on so much of the stress in my work with my own strength, that I let my faith and relationship to God slip. The consequence was that I had times of stress overload and even volunteered for counseling to talk out some issues.

What I had forgotten however, is that stressful times requires real time with God. Not to specifically do anything, but simply to read a bit of His Word, pray and let Him minister to my soul. At the same time, all the burdens I've absorbed need to be released. No judgement or accusation needs to be retained over what has happened or what was done to me, but if I need to confess my sin, then that is the time to do it. If it wasn't sin that I committed, but maybe sin against me, I need to release it and let God take the burden and judgement instead.

It is so easy to forget sometimes that God is really the one who will judge. It doesn't have to be left to us and so we are free to let go of the things that have happened to us, no matter how harsh. Yes, those who have sinned against us may not get what they deserve here on Earth, but the Lord will be just to judge each sin in the proper way (it can happen here or in eternity).

Lord, please help me to give it all over to You. I'm so grateful that You take the burdens of this life away from us because we don't need to carry all that junk in us all the time. We can learn from our mistakes and have wisdom of the ways and follies of man, but we don't need to always try to get retribution or even with every single thing that happens to us. No, we release it to You to take care of it in its proper way for You see beginning to end. Instead, we just need to follow You. The daily blows become nothing when we have a clear vision of You in front of us at all times. Thank You for being my light and my salvation. In Your healing name of Jesus I pray, Amen.