How often do we face a problem that we try to solve in a thousand different ways and if we can’t find a solution, then we pray?
There have been times where I have spent hours preparing a message or a sermon and found it so hard, complex and draining. But when I realise I’m doing it in my own strength, I stop, apologise to God and pray. He then usually gives me the clear message that I’d been trying to pull together myself for hours or even days!
Why do we separate our lives from our work? We really shouldn’t. Our work is a major part of our lives. After all, God did give us 6 days to work and 1 day to rest!
I often hear people talk about the ‘Work / Life balance’. I hate that. We should really stop saying it. It should be ‘Work / Rest balance’ – God gave us work and rest as a gift.
Work is mentioned 3 times BEFORE the fall. It’s not a necessary evil. It’s a gift from God.
But rest is also a gift. That’s something a lot of us need to remember!
When we seek Him first, our life starts to look dramatically different!
For example, if a church wants to recruit a pastor from another church, what normally happens?
One of the elders arranges a secret meeting at a coffee shop nowhere near his church so they don’t get seen, and they discuss the possibility of the pastor moving to the other church.
This is the worldly way. That’s how secular organisations operate. Aren’t we called to be different?
Whereas, there was a Christian guy, Steve, who ran an IT company that wanted to recruit an employee from a rival company that was also run by a Christian, so he called the owner, Bob, and asked to meet him. He explained that he had a big project come in and he thought that one of Bob’s employees – Tim – was a perfect fit and asked if it was ok to approach him.
Well, Bob was very thankful for the way the first guy had conducted himself and agreed to Tim being approached.
Tim met with the Steve and was offered the job and a higher salary. But Tim declined the job saying he’d rather earn less and work for Bob!
You see, character really is more valuable than money – unfortunately not everyone sees that.
God has plenty of money – that’s why we shouldn’t ask people to give to things unless God tells them to.
It’s HIS MONEY.
The Christian life – the AUTHENTIC Christian life – is about trusting God in all areas of our lives at all times!
Only then will we find the freedom we are promised in Christ.