37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble
This chapter continues the conversation of yesterday. I am not in control and all the good things in my life are not of my making. If I believe I am in control or have too much pride I can be quickly humbled.
I am blessed in so many ways, the thing that matters most to me in life is my relationship with Gina, Luke and Katelyn. I love this time of life with these guys but I am at the moment caught on a treadmill that seems to be sucking my physical, mental and emotional energy...my job. I don't want this to suck this precious time from me. Maybe a very typical journey for those of us in the US, maybe just a 1st world problem. I want to be careful of the balance and be weary that the treadmill I am on is potentially driven by pride and competitiveness that does not align with how God wants to use me. Maybe it does maybe I can be a positive influence in a swirl of stress, quite frankly I don't know.
knut
The treadmill is tough. I know what you mean. Even when I decide to go home "early" (which is later than ALL of the people that work for me)...then I'm cranky and short with the family. I think that is potentially worse than not being present at all.
ReplyDeleteSo, what are we going to do about it?
What is God telling us to do with this situation?
Is he asking us to make a career change to get off the treadmill?, or is he asking us to serve him ON the treadmill?
All good questions that I don't have the answers for.
For me....my path to this point is a little different than yours. I floundered for a while, feeling under appreciated, under utilized, under paid, and so on. I made a very conscious decision that my job would not define me. I am defined by my relationship with Jesus Christ. Whether I'm in a good position with him or not....that's what important to me. So, at work, to me that meant I needed to stop trying to get ahead. I felt like he was telling me to help all those around me to reach their dreams, and in a sense, to forego my own. And a funny thing happened. As soon as I started doing that, I started racing up the food-chain. It was really funny to sit back and watch.
So, after writing all of that......I don't have it all figured out at all.....but, as long as your strength and definition of "self" comes from Christ, you can't go wrong. Do get wrapped up in work, wrap yourself in Jesus and work becomes easy.
I agree for sure. I've always been fortunate at John Deere, I've never looked for the next role yet they continued to invest and give opportunities to me beyond any of my desires or expectations. I have been praying for a while now about clarity, where does he want to use me--JD, somewhere else, maybe even in ministry? would I give up great paying jobs for a low paying ministry opportunity? hmmm
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