I Owe. I Owe. So Off To Work I Go

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

Psalm 30:11

If you recall in an earlier post, I mentioned that some people rely on employment to serve as a source of contentment. And then there are the rest of us.

 

Come on don’t act like you don’t know someone who hates their job!

 

In fact, when I lost my last job it was the best thing that ever happened to me!

 

Yep, I was there nearly 9 years and though I tried to quit several times, for whatever reason I couldn’t do it.  Actually, I even passively attempted to get myself fired years before it actually occurred.  And I got a promotion!   Go figure.

Now, I didn’t do anything stupid like steal or curse out upper management.  That would have surely sent me packing a lot sooner, but I was so miserable there that there were times that I would literally arrive at work early, sit in the parking lot until I was super late and then drag myself in the door at the realization that I had two other mouths to feed.

It seemed that I was okay at that place the first few years, but the older I got; the more I longed to be my own boss, outside those four walls. When I injured my back a few years later, I was confronted with the unrelenting reality that so many of my peers had complained about over the years. Before I’d had perfect attendance, volunteered overtime, and always sought to help others.  In fact, one time I was “empowered” to train my own new supervisor. Which sadly, by the way, I found out she too is no longer there.

Long story short- I was actually fired because of an illness mix up and by that time, I had finally gotten comfortable being uncomfortable on a regular basis.

It seems odd, but within the last two years there, God let me know that I was wrong for the way I was working.  Rather, not working.  By me putting in just enough effort to get by I was not only setting a bad example for my peers around me, I was making Him look bad in the process as well.

And let me tell you, God is so smooth with His approach too.

Yes, He does discipline us through His word, but this time, He got my attention in a much more profound way.  He got one of my coworkers to help me set His record straight!

“Yeah, Nadia I remember you before you knew the Lord.  You’ve changed.”

That may not seem like a big deal to you, but to me it said a lot. Because this young lady had witnessed how God’s power through Christ had literally transformed my existence at work.  That was a good transformation mind you…only I knew that I had been passively doing what I was supposed to do instead of actively doing what I knew I could do.  Yes, because before I really accepted Christ as my Lord and savior, I drank with the best of ‘em, partied, and yes cursed like I’d just gotten off the ship.  So her words became a sobering moment for lack of a better word.  God showed me that I was not just being watched by Him, but that others had been watching me too.

That said, regardless of how I longed to do something different, I still had a responsibility of maintaining and displaying the proper attitude where I was. It was at this point I realized that I worked not just because I needed the resources the job provided, but that I should work with a grateful heart and countenance because of who God provided.

 

His son Jesus is the source of my strength and the keeper of my soul. Had it not been for His sacrifice not only would I have not had the job I did at the time, but I would not have been able to stomach the lost of it when that day came. However, that realization led me to reaffirm my faith in the one who is my Source.

So though I joke and sing the little rendition of the 7 dwarfs tune, “I owe, I owe so off to work I go,”  nowadays I realize it has nothing to do with the money I could earn and everything to do with the Grace through His blood that I did not.

©2014 Nadia Davis. All Rights Reserved.