Living By Faith Blog

What Do You See?

When you think of your work — do you see only the work — the tasks, the appointments, the deadlines?

Or do you also see that God is there with you in your work — with grace to transform your work?

That’s what Paul says in 2Cor 9:8 —

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

ALL grace … ALL sufficiency … ALL things … at ALL times … in EVERY good work.

That certainly covers your work — whether it’s putting up drywall, making kids’ lunches, developing a marketing strategy, or waiting on tables.

Last week I described three ways God’s grace can transform your work —

• God’s grace can make your work meaningful
• God’s grace can motivate you in your work
• God’s grace can give you wisdom at work

And today I want to give you three more —

God’s Grace Will Work Through Our Inadequacies.

God called Moses to ask Pharaoh to free Israel from her slavery.

But Moses was inadequate for this job: “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent … I am slow of speech and of tongue.”  Exo 4:10

But God answers —

“Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”  Exo 4:11-12

Moses was slow of speech.  He was inadequate for the job.

And in many ways, so are we.

But God always stands before us saying — “I will be with you in your inadequacies, and will work through your inadequacies, to bring about My perfect will.”

That doesn’t mean we will do everything perfectly, or that we will always succeed.

In fact, the first time Moses went to Pharaoh, Pharaoh kicked him out of his court and penalized all of Israel.

But God sent Moses back to Pharaoh, and God used Moses to free Israel from slavery.

So when you feel inadequate, trust that God will be with you just like He was with Moses.  And God will work through your inadequacies to  bring about His perfect will.

God’s Grace Can Resolve Work Problems

Maybe you face losing your biggest account.  Or you made a huge mistake in estimating the job.  Or there’s a bug in the computer program.

What can we do when we face work problems?  Here’s what God says in Psalm 50:15 —

And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

When God talks about a day of trouble, He’s talking about every problem you face, including every work problem.

So whenever you face work-problems, God invites you to call upon Him for help.  So when you can, stop what you are doing, and in Jesus’ name ask the Father for help with your problem.

And God promises that every time you do that He will deliver you.

Many times God will improve your circumstances — keeping you from losing the account, making a way for your mistake to be covered, or helping you find the bug in the program.

But sometimes deliverance takes a different shape.  Sometimes God does not improve the circumstances.  Sometimes He purposefully allows hard things to happen.

But here’s the good news: He will always do what brings you closest to Him — which is the ultimate deliverance.

So whenever you face a problem, see Jesus Christ standing before you with grace to deliver you.  And when you call upon Him, you can know —

Deliverance is on the way.

God’s Grace Can Satisfy Us In Himself As We Work.

It’s easy to feel unsatisfied at work.  Maybe you are not being recognized, or the people you work with are difficult, or the work is boring.

Does that mean you are stuck being unsatisfied for 50 or 60 or 70 hours a week?  Not at all.

Here’s Jesus’ promise in John 6:35 —

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Jesus is talking about heart-thirsts.  He’s talking about times when our hearts are not satisfied, like when we feel bored, or anxious, or empty.

And Jesus promises that if we will come to Him and believe in Him — He will make His presence so real to us that we will be completely satisfied — in Him.

This means you can be fully satisfied in any job.  Not that you can’t look for other jobs.  And the Father might lead you to do that.

But when you come to Him and believe in Him, Jesus Christ will always satisfy you — not in the job, but in Himself.

So when you feel unsatisfied at work — see Jesus standing before you with grace to satisfy you in Himself.

And when you can (not on company time) — take a few minutes to come to Him and believe in Him.  Pray.  Worship.  Read God’s Word.

It makes no difference how boring the work, how little the recognition, how difficult the people —

You can be fully satisfied in Him.

Thoughts?  Comments?

I’d love to hear.  Leave a reply below.  Thanks!

Do you know someone who struggles at work?  Email this to them using the “share” button below.

If you would like to receive a Saturday email summarizing the week’s posts — subscribe here.  (I will only use your email address for Living By Faith Blog communications — and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)

And here’s some related posts you might find helpful —

• Three Ways God's Grace Can Transform Your Work
• A Reader Asks: Does God Promise Success?
• How God Saved My Sermon Preparation From Disaster

(Picture from everystockphoto by lustfish.)