Challenges in the Workplace

In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him.
- 1 Samuel 18:14

In I Samuel 18 we learn a lesson about jealousy in the workplace. Here we have King Saul turning jealous of David because of the praise he received from others for a job well done. That jealousy led to fear and anxiety about David as well. Sometimes we are the Davids in our workplace and we don't even know it. We receive projects, tasks, and challenges that set us up for failure (v13). And whether we're aware of the setup or not we must find a way to persevere.

We must face every challenge, every adversity, as an opportunity to grow and strengthen our character. More importantly we must remember, regardless of triumph or failure, that God is with us. We are more than just Davids in our workplaces. We are EMMANUELs!

Holding On For Christ's Sake

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- 2 Corinthians 12:10

I've been struggling lately in so many ways: financially, socially, and emotionally. And while I want to revel in the situations because I know what the Lord has taught me it has been hard. We tend to get so caught up in the human element of things that we only see "the natural side" and most of that is just a facade for the spiritual issue at hand. As Brothers and Sisters in Christ the enemy doesn't want to see us happy. He doesn't want to see us succeed. Because of this situations will be thrown our ways to see how we handle things and apparently the Lord thinks we can. He has such a high opinion of us!

It took me over a week before I can see the situation for what it is and since then things have improved. As I celebrated my ten year wedding anniversary I shared this prayer statement with my wife:

I AM blessed and humbled by the way God is working in my life.

I will find COMFORT IN THE FIRE, knowing that I am not alone in a journey of faith.

I know that the fires in my life can MAKE ME STRONGER if I let God work through them.

In this I stand and believe through Christ Jesus, my Savior. Amen.

Everything Is Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 1:18
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.

I met a Brother in Christ at work today. He had his bible open on his desk in his beautiful corporate office. "Read anything good today?" I asked as I try to break the ice. He nodded negatively, probably an attempt to remain politically correct. As I gave him an avenue to feel comfortable he open up and greeeted in the Lord. I shared how my church had just completed reading a "Proverb a day" for the month of October and encouraged him to do the same during December. He seemed to like the idea. He proceeded to tell me how he listens to Charles Swindoll in the mornings and shared some of his teachings. We started talking about Ecclesiastes and how it relates to man's quest to find out the meaning of life. More importantly "the Teacher" writes about things that correspond to the emotional struggles of life's daily grind. I was blessed to take some time out of my day to fellowship with him.

At lunch I read the first chapter of Ecclesiastes. The whole "everything is meaningless" can be easily taken out of context. It led me to some questions: Is this a good or bad observation? Is it one that arises out of frustration? I'm at a point in my life where I can easily subscribe to taking this chapter in a solitary way, for no other reason than to feel like someone identifies with me. I realize that is time is nothing more than a season and like Mrs. KB said "we must go through the fire to become refined."