Two weeks ago, I received some blowing news at work. In my profession as an HR Manager, I'm normally on the giving end of these sorts of conversations, but this time, it was different. I can't go into the specifics of what really happened, but I can tell you this. I wasn't fired. I wasn't demoted. I didn't receive a cut in pay. I wasn't even disciplined. I had done nothing wrong. The decision was "strictly business", but that didn't take away the very human and emotional sting that it carried.
I fought to keep my professional composure, but it became too much for my weary heart and I finally burst into tears. When it was my turn to speak, the first words out of my mouth were, "It's okay. I don't even work for this place. I work for the Lord." I'm not sure what shocked me more...that I said it aloud...or that I actually believed it. You see, for the days leading up to this meeting, I had been reading the devotional Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It seemed like every day's devotional referred to trusting in the Lord, not worrying about tomorrow, or not getting ahead of the Lord. Isn't it awesome when God works that way? He knew that this meeting was coming, and for 15 days, he brought scripture to me about trusting Him, and those words provided a protective balm for my heart.
My amazing boss let me cry and coached me through how she was going to commit to me as we navigate through my future with the company, a future that surprisingly, I still want. I work with great people, doing a job that I love, and I know that God brought me to my company for a reason. I also know that His work through me here isn't finished yet. Don't get me wrong, there have been moments when I've wanted to bail, to take the easy way out. If I can be completely transparent, I've even secretly imagined myself quietly boxing up my office, and sneaking out the back door, leaving just a note on my desk that reads...."See, ya! Good luck figuring it all out, suckas!" But I haven't done that, and I won't.
It doesn't matter if you are a CEO, a school teacher, a branch manager, or a full-time Momma, we have all experienced a time in our job when we felt unappreciated. Maybe you've been passed over a dozen times for that promotion you so deserve. Perhaps your principal recanted a good decision you made in order to satisfy an angry parent. Or maybe you spent all day nursing a sick toddler, only to have your spouse roll his eyes and sigh at the sink-full of dishes you just simply didn't have time to wash. When you feel unappreciated in your work, sweet reader, lean on this scripture from Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
So, whether you are bagging someone's groceries, running a machine in a factory, making multi-million dollar investment deals, or wiping poop off of a butt that isn't your own, remember that you are doing it all for the Lord. It's all His mission field. God has you right where you are, doing this work, in this moment of time, for something bigger than you could ever imagine.
When I stop seeing my workplace as an office and start seeing it as a mission field, I realize the impact that I can truly have on those around me. When I stop thinking of my job as corporate work and start thinking of it as kingdom work, I am much more capable of handling those darts that come hurling my way. My kingdom work came last year, when I wept with an employee as he showed me the ultrasound picture of the baby he and his wife thought they might never conceive. My kingdom work came last September, when I sat in a hospital waiting room and held the hand of another employee as he watched his wife die from pneumonia. My kingdom work came last week when I offered a recent college graduate his very first job. My kingdom work came today, when I lined up FMLA paperwork, counseling services, and insurance information for an employee who just learned his wife has cancer.
This week, take some time to look for all the kingdom work God has placed in front of you. Not sure what that might be? It's when you give a word of encouragement to the weary mom in the checkout line or lend a listening ear to a hurting client as you cut her hair. It's when you pull a double shift so your co-worker can go home to spend time with her soon-to-deploy husband or when you comfort a student whose parents are going through a divorce. It's when you forgo the laundry to read books to your toddler or when you comb your patient's hair and paint her fingernails. That my friend, is kingdom work.
Comment below to let me and others know how you are going to turn your corporate work into kingdom work.
I fought to keep my professional composure, but it became too much for my weary heart and I finally burst into tears. When it was my turn to speak, the first words out of my mouth were, "It's okay. I don't even work for this place. I work for the Lord." I'm not sure what shocked me more...that I said it aloud...or that I actually believed it. You see, for the days leading up to this meeting, I had been reading the devotional Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It seemed like every day's devotional referred to trusting in the Lord, not worrying about tomorrow, or not getting ahead of the Lord. Isn't it awesome when God works that way? He knew that this meeting was coming, and for 15 days, he brought scripture to me about trusting Him, and those words provided a protective balm for my heart.
My amazing boss let me cry and coached me through how she was going to commit to me as we navigate through my future with the company, a future that surprisingly, I still want. I work with great people, doing a job that I love, and I know that God brought me to my company for a reason. I also know that His work through me here isn't finished yet. Don't get me wrong, there have been moments when I've wanted to bail, to take the easy way out. If I can be completely transparent, I've even secretly imagined myself quietly boxing up my office, and sneaking out the back door, leaving just a note on my desk that reads...."See, ya! Good luck figuring it all out, suckas!" But I haven't done that, and I won't.
It doesn't matter if you are a CEO, a school teacher, a branch manager, or a full-time Momma, we have all experienced a time in our job when we felt unappreciated. Maybe you've been passed over a dozen times for that promotion you so deserve. Perhaps your principal recanted a good decision you made in order to satisfy an angry parent. Or maybe you spent all day nursing a sick toddler, only to have your spouse roll his eyes and sigh at the sink-full of dishes you just simply didn't have time to wash. When you feel unappreciated in your work, sweet reader, lean on this scripture from Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
So, whether you are bagging someone's groceries, running a machine in a factory, making multi-million dollar investment deals, or wiping poop off of a butt that isn't your own, remember that you are doing it all for the Lord. It's all His mission field. God has you right where you are, doing this work, in this moment of time, for something bigger than you could ever imagine.
When I stop seeing my workplace as an office and start seeing it as a mission field, I realize the impact that I can truly have on those around me. When I stop thinking of my job as corporate work and start thinking of it as kingdom work, I am much more capable of handling those darts that come hurling my way. My kingdom work came last year, when I wept with an employee as he showed me the ultrasound picture of the baby he and his wife thought they might never conceive. My kingdom work came last September, when I sat in a hospital waiting room and held the hand of another employee as he watched his wife die from pneumonia. My kingdom work came last week when I offered a recent college graduate his very first job. My kingdom work came today, when I lined up FMLA paperwork, counseling services, and insurance information for an employee who just learned his wife has cancer.
This week, take some time to look for all the kingdom work God has placed in front of you. Not sure what that might be? It's when you give a word of encouragement to the weary mom in the checkout line or lend a listening ear to a hurting client as you cut her hair. It's when you pull a double shift so your co-worker can go home to spend time with her soon-to-deploy husband or when you comfort a student whose parents are going through a divorce. It's when you forgo the laundry to read books to your toddler or when you comb your patient's hair and paint her fingernails. That my friend, is kingdom work.
Comment below to let me and others know how you are going to turn your corporate work into kingdom work.
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