“Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.” (Psalm 37:3 NLT)
By Tom Petersen
The scramble began as soon as the merger was announced.
The plan to bring together three companies created plenty of uncertainty for employees. Since the announcement didn’t spell out the new management structure, managers began jockeying to interact with anyone that they thought might be a leader in the new company.
As one of those scrambling employees, I look back and recognize how unseemly my behavior was. My peers and I found excuses to “accidentally” encounter executives who seemed likely to have assignments in the new company. We tried to be visible in meetings and spoke up in conference calls. And everyone wanted to be on a merger transition team, because we thought those employees would certainly get golden tickets to join the new company.
I was fixated on impressing others to ensure I would have a job.
But God calls us to look beyond our supervisors for our employment. When we do our work from a position of our faith, we are working for our heavenly Father, not our earthly bosses.
What does that look like?
It is using our God-given talents to serve God’s children around us, putting their well-being ahead of our to-do lists. We seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and share with others the fruit that comes from that. Maybe most importantly, we work with faith, integrity, and excellence according to God’s call, regardless of who signs our paycheck.
Adopting a “Working for Our Father” approach requires trusting God. In my case, God provided an opportunity in the new organization. But looking back, I suspect he provided that opportunity in spite of—not because of—my schmoozing to those earthly executives.
Pray
Lord, as I begin each workday, help me remember that working for you, not my boss or supervisor, should be my focus.
Reflect
When have you been more focused on an earthly supervisor than your heavenly Father to advance your career? As you look back, what could you have done differently?
Discuss
How can we take a step back from our earthly workplace focus, to instead seek guidance from God, trusting him to lead us on our career path?
Tom Petersen is a former utility communications professional who writes on work and faith issues. He is WorkLight’s communications chair, and he and his wife Cathy have two children.