Working For Our Father:Aligning Your Career To God's Mission

Let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned,

To which God called you.

It comes down to our own personal response.

How will we submit ourselves to God and participate in His call for each of us?

Our careers become our calling when we see them as part of the call to work for our Father.

It transforms the work of our hands into service and ministry to God and for others.

It brings things into alignment to be an influence and restore the things before us.

Are we willing to trust God,

Put our faith in Him and find out that He is indeed Lord of all of our lives,

Especially our careers?

Are we daring enough to bank our faith on the character and promise of God in our workplace?

These are personal decisions with personal applications.

We are not alone.

God is with us.

Each of us individually has different gifts and talents.

God wants us to grow in our own abilities and increase the good we're able to do.

A parable that illustrates this well is the parable of the talents.

There are many insights we can gain.

Some surprise us.

Let's put ourselves in the servant's role.

In Jesus' day,

Talents were the way money was measured.

A talent was a lot of money.

It was based on a little over 100 pounds of silver,

Which was more precious than gold at the time.

One talent in today's dollars would be worth between 500,

000 and a million dollars.

It was real,

Tangible currency you could touch and feel.

We often think this parable is referring to the soft skills and individual abilities,

But it is really about real hard assets being cared for and developed.

The master entrusts these hard assets into each servant's hands.

Each receives a different amount,

And then the master goes away.

Each is unique with their personal tendencies,

Abilities,

And liabilities.

What will they do?

What will their results be?

They had been entrusted with these resources to advance the work of the master.

They would be held accountable when he returned.

The master expected them to be courageously faithful to him,

No matter what others thought of him or the situations they would face.

To demonstrate they can be trusted to make good use of what he has given them,

They yield an increase.

The story is different for the third servant.

Fearing his master's reputation,

He buries what is put into his care.

He was more concerned about protecting himself than serving his master.

He discovers he didn't know his master very well.

Three important takeaways.

It wasn't about financial increase.

The master's response says what was important,

Well done,

Good,

And faithful servant.

It's not about being successful in the world's eyes.

It's about being faithful and serving God's purposes.

It's about care and advancing the master's goal.

The successful servants are humble.

They attribute their success to the resources the master supplied rather than their hard work or personal talents.

Finally,

Their reward for good work was more work,

So they would enter into the joy of their master.

The perspective of working for our father changes everything.

Success is in God's hands,

Faithfulness in ours.

God wants our joy to be complete,

No matter how challenging or hostile our work environments might be.

As stewards of his creation,

All the details of our lives are important and of concern to God.

Humbly,

We cry out with the psalmist.

We need his direction,

Grace,

And strength.

In the beginning,

His closest followers faced a world full of threats,

A world that ridiculed their beliefs.

Fearful and powerless at Pentecost,

They were filled with the Holy Spirit.

They set out on a campaign to change the world.

Within 300 years,

Christians absorbed the empire that sought to eliminate them.

God calls us to restore all things.

This includes our workplaces.

So let's ask ourselves about our industry and where we work.

What is good that we can encourage and build on?

What is evil that we can eliminate?

What is not working that we can fix?

What is missing that we can help bring about?

The work begun by the disciples continues in our day.

Over the centuries,

It has done well,

It has done poorly.

Doing what is right is a long and unfinished process.

The solutions lie rooted in us.

What we do,

How we choose to use the resources entrusted to us.

The areas we influence are assigned to us,

Areas in which God calls us to faithfully maximize resources,

Both human and material.

We should start by ensuring that we do our work with excellence.

The reality is,

Christians should be the best workers in the world.

We've been freed from sin and filled with the Holy Spirit.

We should continue to grow in our own practical skills and abilities as well as the fruit of the Spirit.

If we are to be faithful in responding to God's call,

Three critical areas should be incorporated in our lives.

Our relationship and friendship with Jesus is our doorway to a relationship with the Father.

We need regular conversations together,

We need to grow in understanding and affection.

I am the vine,

You are the branches.

Those who abide in me and I in them will bear much fruit,

Because apart from me you can do nothing.

If we are to live in Christ and He in us,

We must come to a new level of intimacy with Him and our Father.

The Father and Son want to engage us in their conversation.

The Holy Spirit gathers us into the conversation.

They want us to speak openly and freely with them.

Living as Christ takes courage,

Obedience,

And humility.

Jesus surrendered all in response to the call of the Father.

The Apostles did it as well.

We can expect no less.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Seeking God's will isn't about obtaining a detailed plan.

God responds to what is happening around us,

He doesn't always operate in a straight line.

Often,

We are afraid of making a wrong turn or bad choice and being left out,

Missing the boat.

It's more about trusting God and responding to the choices in front of us.

And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,

Who have been called according to His purpose.

There's a lot of free will going on we can't control.

There's a lot happening behind the scenes we're not aware of.

Remember,

God is bigger than our jobs,

Bigger than our worries,

And bigger than our challenges.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And do not rely on your own insights.

In all your ways,

Acknowledge Him,

And He will make straight your paths.

Finding God's will is more about learning what God desires and pursuing that.

If we do,

Our decisions are going to line up with His plans,

And we can trust the outcome to Him.

Join with others who share the same commitment and dedication of working for our Father.

It's good to be mentored by others.

It's important to have objective perspectives.

We want others to help who know both our abilities and our liabilities.

People who can help us be sure we're hearing God and not just ourselves.

It's critical to be supported in challenges.

We need the encouragement,

Support,

And experience of others.

We need to hold each other accountable to fidelity and steadfastness,

In good times and bad.

We should stand together in prayer.

Two of the greatest influences of our age,

Culture and commerce,

Converge in the marketplace.

Our careers and workplaces are ground zero for us to make an impact.

God has been present in all major aspects of human history.

Today's marketplace is no exception.

Working for our Father brings our careers and workplaces into alignment.

By recognizing our call to be stewards of God's creation,

By realizing our employment as working for our Father and serving others,

By relating and working together as faithful contributors to culture and commerce,

And by respecting the dignity of all workers,

Assisting them in being useful and making contributions,

Giving them meaningful employment,

Helping them grow and make good use of their gifts and talents,

And always being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.

What if you started by evangelizing the Christians you work with,

Joining together to support each other in working for our Father around the clock,

Living a life of faith,

Integrity,

And excellence at work,

A constructive,

Serving,

Humble,

And shared approach,

One that emphasized the dignity of work and the dignity of the worker?

What if Christian workers were actually working for their Father and not for themselves,

Showing respect to co-workers and supervisors,

Doing their work with quality,

Skill,

And distinction,

Taking an interest in the well-being of others,

Standing for the dignity of all,

Helping resolve conflicts,

Encouraging practices that were honest,

Just,

And ethical,

All the while caring,

Accompanying,

Supporting,

And praying with co-workers through struggles and difficulties?