God at work

The Eagles workshop yesterday was an enriching session and sparked in me thoughts about bringing God into my workplace.

How true... that most of us separate God (religion/spirituality) and work, seeing it as two separate spheres altogether, when in fact, we shouldn't just be Christians on Sunday, but Christians everyday... even Monday to Friday, where we are at work, and spending most of our waking hours at the workplace. Rather than contemplating thoughts about this being the "wrong job" for us, there exists an alternative to discern God's purpose for us at our workplace. We have to trust that we are placed at the right place and right time, and that there are no mistakes... it is simply, about seeking the opportunities and perspective to bring about rightness, to reveal God's presence where we are.  

It reminds me of the miracle at my workplace, when M connected me with fellow Christians here, and remarkably, two of them were from the same church I am, and one of them I had even met only a few days earlier in church, just had failed to be aware that she was also my co-worker! The lunch fellowship when we met together to share our faith, our stories, our experiences was an amazing session that moved me deeply. To be able to pray together, holding in ourselves the vision for our colleagues to see Christ through us, and that we might be able to bring more believers to Christ, was a powerful one, reminding me who my real boss was. I work not for earthly beings, but for God, and the daily mundane tasks that we face are not the be-all and end-all of life, instead, our gaze should be directed to the eternal, to the unseen... to the relationships and influence that we can nurture at our workplace. That is our purpose at work, and there is a desperate need for there to be more believers in the marketplace, for us to stand up and be different, to inspire and sow seeds of change for our heavenly father.

At the workshop, we also talked about the criteria that matters to us in a job... the non-negotiables and the negotiables. What are mine?

~ A mission that I believe in and am passionate about
~ A place where I can make my interest my work
~ Work-life balance
~ Opportunities to learn and develop
~ Opportunities to make a difference to others
~ A good boss
~ A nurturing environment with colleagues as my friends
~ Teamwork
~ Salary

And now, a new criteria that I did not know I have - "workplace ministry". Looking at my list, I feel gratitude for the job I have now, and questions, doubts about whether this is the right job for me, are at least answered and eased. If I ever wonder whether God cares about me... I need only to think of the fact that God had arranged for my immediate colleague in my division to be my churchmate, and be deeply heartened. And to discover now that there are more co-workers from the same church, aligned to the same purpose... What are the odds? Is that not a miracle in itself?