
I work primarily on email... hundreds a day... back and forth, being copied on, replying to, forwarding and coping and bcc-ing...
We have to much to say and at the same time we don't say much at all. It's exhausting.
Like my friend, whose office I was blessed to sit in last week. Front and center on my desk are verses from the Bible that speak to me daily. The one on my desk right now is from an email (again with email) dated April 24, 2014. It says... Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on firm footing. ~Psalm 143:10
Too often I find myself on a call, getting upset with a situation or something that is out of my control or reading an email from a colleague who's just attacking something I have missed or not done correctly wondering why on earth I can't just get thanked for ALL the things I have done right... Well, it's because we're all taught to work and produce excellence and sometimes there is no grace! Whelp, folks... I am not excellent all the time... I need reminders to do better and to perform better. So right now...
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on firm footing... Right now... that verse brings me back to center... amongst all the other noise!
....Teach me... your will not mine! Give me Grace and Lead me... Lead me so that I may follow...Lead me so that I will not step out ahead of you... Plant me on firm footing... Your firm footing God... right on your word... and go one step further --- KEEP ME HERE... in this frame... your will, not mine. Your Grace for me... Lead me your way... PLANT me, like a bush... in the good soil where my roots can dig deep... where I cannot be moved from you.
Why does this apply to work... because... IT rather HE applies to everything for me. Like my colleague... I need to remember that I am not whatever situation I am in. I am not supposed lash out and speak unkind. I am supposed to remain firmly planted in his will for me...
A few of the rest of the verses that sit on my desk remind me who I am supposed to be... of who God has called me to be. Sometimes I fail at it... sometimes miserably... but that's where Grace comes in... God's Grace..
The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 1 Corinthians 3:8
A gentle answer deflects anger. Proverbs 15:1
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people. Colossians 3:23
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy 31:6
He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. Psalm 144:2
AND let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. Colossians 3:15a