Work
July 15, 2000  

by Rose Murdock

How does your job fit into the plan of God?  Have you ever wondered that?  Have you ever felt that what you’re doing is not all that important?  That you are not as important to God as those who are full-time ministers of the gospel?  Have you ever felt that God doesn’t care, or doesn’t care as much, about your work as He does those who are out there preaching His Word?  He does care and exactly how much He does may surprise you.

The following statements may apply to you concerning your job:

1. You have to be there.  You have financial obligations to provide for your family.
   
2. You have a job to do.  And you need to concentrate on that.   You can’t be off reading your Bible and praying all the time.
   
3. You have to work with people.  And many of them may be unbelievers.
   
4. You want to be a witness for the Lord.  You want to show God’s love to those around you yet you want to be separate from the world.  You don’t want to participate in the sin around you.
   
5. You want the Lord to move in your workplace.  You want to do His work while you’re there.

Do you have to be there?

First of all, ask yourself, do I have to be at this job?  Do I know I’m in the will of God?  If you know you are then you know you are in His will.  You know that this is the job or the thing He has called you to at this point in time.  It sounds simple but sometimes we’re thinking God doesn’t really care what job we have.  We get up and go to work and don’t really think about this job being God’s will for us.  Sometimes we’re looking at other things we’d rather be doing and we are at a standstill with the Lord because He has put us at this place at this time and He has called us to be here.  Or we feel that we’ll be here the rest of our life but what we’re doing just isn’t all that important in the overall plan of things.  Or the Lord may be saying to move on to something else and because we don’t think He really cares where we work we miss His guidance.

It is said to ministers to be sure of their calling.  Great emphasis is put to those entering full-time ministry on being sure you are in His will and that He has definitely called you.  People say you have to be sure it’s His will in order to hold up under the tough times.  God is no respecter of persons.   Why would He emphasize that so much to a full-time minister and not to the rest of the body?  Especially since the rest of the body has so much more opportunity to advance His kingdom?  The members of the body that are out there in the secular world are faced and confronted with "tough times" on a daily, even hourly basis.   Because of being in the midst of the spirit of the world.  God has called you to do something for Him here and now.  If it’s not a full-time ministry position it is absolutely in no way less important.

Noah was called to build an ark

That was Noah’s calling.  What we know about Him is that he:

• found grace or favor in the eyes of the Lord
  
• was a just and righteous man
  
• was blameless in his generation
  
• walked in habitual fellowship with God
  
• God saw him as righteous

(Genesis 6:9,18,22, 7:1 Amplified Bible)

Noah wasn’t out doing signs and wonders and all that, (that we know of).  He was doing his job--building the ark.  And when God said go in, he went in.  But he was blameless and righteous before God.  He walked in fellowship with God.  He was obedient to God and saved the human race.  Not a small task!

If we are in the Kingdom of God and interested in doing what He’s called and created us to do, then we need to find out and make sure we’re at the job He wants for us.  Make sure we are being obedient to Him.

You have a job to do

So if you know that this job is His will for you, then you know you’re there out of obedience to God.  He knows you have tasks to perform which require your mental attention.  Noah was building a boat and everyone just saw him as building a boat.  But God saw him being obedient.  Noah did it exactly as God commanded.  God commanded the ark to be built a certain way and He gave Noah specific instructions.  In the same way, God has commanded certain things of us in our relation to our work and our dealings with people.  As we do what He’s commanded then our obedience to Him will be evident to all.  Noah’s obedience was evident to all.  It may not seem very important or very "spiritual" but when we obey God’s commands our work is blessed by God and brings life to us and our families just as the ark brought life to Noah and his family.  Obedience is a tree of life.

The people around us

Noah didn’t give in to the sins around him.  He was in the midst of all kinds of unbelievers.  Everyone in the world was destroyed because of sin except for him and his family so we know he was surrounded by sin and yet was still found righteous before the Lord.  It is possible! Israel later on got involved with the sins of those nations around them over and over again.  Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden because of giving in to the temptation offered to them.  The age old challenge is to choose God and serve Him.  To obey His commands over what is around us.

What was the curse after the fall?

Weeds.  The curse was for man to have to work to get rid of the weeds.  And to work to bring forth fruit.  The challenge is to keep the weeds from infiltrating our life.  To keep the weeds out and bear fruit.  When you feel like you’re in the midst of a bunch of weeds, just keep on doing what you know to do.  Don’t let the weeds overcome you.  Don’t get down on yourself to the point of getting discouraged and giving up, this is the challenge of life!

Spirit of poverty

The devil would love to destroy and defeat God’s people with a spirit of poverty.  Just as he comes against us with temptations to sin in other areas, he will try and bring poverty on us by tempting us to give in to sin in our workplace.  If we work with an attitude, with rebellion or bitterness or criticism or gossip or slander or pride, etc., then our work is not blessed by God because God can’t bless disobedience. A spirit of poverty comes in this way through sin in the areas of what we set our hands to--our work.  Of course if we sin, we can ask for forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.  No one is perfect and can do everything exactly right.  But if we continually give in to sin in this area, we are setting ourselves up for trouble.

God’s prosperity

If you know it’s God’s will for you to be at your workplace then you are being obedient to Him by being there.  Disobedience throws us out of God’s garden of blessing and provision.  Obedience brings and keeps us in His Garden.

Isaiah 1:19: If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Obedience not only brings you, (or keeps you), in the garden of God’s blessing, but there is the opportunity for fellowship with God there!   Adam and Eve fellowshipped with God in the Garden.  If it’s God’s will for you to be there it doesn’t just mean that He’s tolerating or allowing you to be there, it means He’s commanded and commissioned for you to be there and you are being obedient by being there. As a result of that, not only will God bless you in the natural realm but His fellowship is available to you.  His presence will be with you, even at work.  You take the Garden of God with you when you are in a place of obedience to Him.  In the workplace is where MOST of the advancement for the kingdom of God takes place.  It’s out there--in the world.   Because it’s good and evil face to face.  We have the opportunity to overcome evil directly with good.

Opposing evil with good is the ultimate battle and the ultimate victory.  It’s like a war, you can have leaders who plan all day but without soldiers nothing is ever accomplished.  And in the church, you can have leaders who plan strategy or ministers who preach the gospel but without people out there in the every day lives of the world, nothing is ever accomplished. In fact, it does more good to fight without a leader then to lead without fighters.  The devil has lied to the church and we’ve bought it.  The lie is that ministers should do more for the kingdom of God, to advance His kingdom then "lay" people.  That should not be true.   The ministers minister to those in the body who go out and do the work of the ministry, (Ephesians 4:11,12).

Evil is dominating the lives of the unsaved we work with, (and maybe even the saved).  We need to first of all not be overcome with it, not partake in it and second of all help to set them free from it. Much is accomplished for God’s Kingdom when you resist evil and overcome with good in your everyday life.

Success on the Job

Remember that God’s idea of success and prosperity is different from the worlds.  Having a lot of money doesn’t automatically mean that you are a success, (it doesn’t mean you’re not either).  You may be out of the will of God.  Your job may be an idol.  Or you may be truly blessed by God.   But, you can’t measure your success by the amount of money you have or how prestigious your job is.  Don’t settle for a false sense of prosperity or success and don’t quit seeking God because you have attained to a certain place of financial or social acceptability.  The standard for success remains the Word of God.   If you’ve obtained ‘success’ and yet have compromised God’s Word then you are not successful at all.  Obedience and dedication to God is the only true success.  The world’s idea is money, prestige and promotion.

If you are obedient to the Lord concerning your job, prosperity will follow.  But prosperity is more then money.  Yes it includes God’s provision and financial blessing but it’s so much more then that.  Find out God’s will concerning your job. Seek Him.  Don’t think He doesn’t care and that it’s ‘just a job’.  He wants to take you to a new place of fellowship with Him and every act of obedience to Him is one step further into His Garden.

God Bless you and have a great day!