Daily Grind

Business People Commuting Rush Hour Concept

1 Kings 9; Ephesians 6; Ezekiel 39; Psalm 90

What does your relationship with work look like?  Do you love going to the office  every day, or do you arrive moaning and complaining about the daily grind?  If you don’t know, listen carefully to the words in your thoughts and  prayers.   Your attitude about work comes out through them.  When we are focused on our surroundings and situations, we besiege God with questions about why we are here.  Rather than listen for answers, we pester God for intervention, assuming that His blessing will fully eradicate our problems.  God doesn’t  work that way for me.  In fact, when I focus and concentrate on my problems, cursing my work, I am generally spiraling downward.

How do we avoid this spiral?  According to Ephesians 6:7 (ESV)  we are to, “render service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.”  In short, stop looking to work for what it will gain you.  Instead, start thinking about work as an opportunity to serve and praise God.  To be honest, I have to be careful not to dismiss those answers as simplistic and trite.  Instead, if I stop and look carefully, my heart reveals that I really do want to serve and praise God through my work.  To do so, I must first replace the adverse effects of discouragement with life and energy, which require that we adopt new behaviors.  Let’s start today with the shape of our prayer.  Instead of asking God to resolve specific problems at the office, ask Him to fix your inner world.  Specifically, ask Him:

  • Reveal to me where you are working today
  • Reveal to me how my words and actions at work are affecting others
  • Reveal to me how my words and actions are affecting my psyche
  • When you show me these things, Father, will you also present me with alternatives that will bring you glory?

Remember, God is not asking us to endure our days. He created us so that we can embrace them, joyfully. It is only possible when He is the center and subject of our work.