God in the Workplace

This past week at work, I had two situations that were creating a lot of stress. In both situations, I though of "the usual" - praying that God would help me deal with them, not be overly worked up, handle well as a Christian - providing a good witness.

As I was dealing with the first one, though, I started thinking about why wouldn't God change this? Why did I have to go through this? I remembered that He usually allows trials in our lives in order to help us grow. James 1:2-3: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." So, I thought, "What are You trying to teach me?" What I realized is that God wanted me to truly turn the situation over to Him - not just my feelings or reactions about it.

The situation involved my team being asked to implement a system extremely quickly - which introduces very high risk of something not working well. Some of the executives involved in the request also have a perception that my area is difficult to deal with - slow to produce results. So, I decided to ask God to move in the situation - deal with the demands, help the project to go well, and deal with the people and their perception of my team.

Later in the week, we had a meeting to review the project. Within this meeting, the time frames discussed, while still rapid, were much more reasonable and attainable - including time for dedicated testing. The executives also made specific comments at how quickly my team had begun the initial ground work - complimentary in the same issues they've typically been critical regarding.

The second issue arose the following day. Our company recently hired a consulting firm to evaluate the costs of several areas in the company, and compare them to data from other firms. A large part of what my area does is new and unique - other firms are not doing this, yet. The consultants had stated they had no comparative data. But in their report, they "created" a comparative measure, and showed us to be much more expensive. Within the company, we were being asked to address the difference in costs - potentially by significantly reducing staff.

Remembering the earlier experience, I asked God to work in this situation, as well - not just to help me not to get upset about it, but to work in it. Within a few minutes, I got word that the consultants had removed the invalid comparison "data."

I don't know that God will always choose to work so quickly and with results that are so pleasant - but He's clearly helping me learn to really engage Him in prayer in the specific issues and challenges in my work place.

Conforming or Transforming?

Sometimes I get the distinct understanding that God is trying to make sure I "get" a particular topic.  Recently one of the devotionals I follow touched on Romans 12:2, and the subject of being Transformed rather than conforming to the world. A few days later, the schedule I follow for my daily quiet time included Romans 12.  Then, this past Sunday, the pastor's message centered on Romans 12:2... 

The key points that seem to stick out to me are that it's easier to be conformed than transformed, and what activities typically contribute to conforming or transforming.

Conforming is easy, I think of analogies like pouring liquid into a mold or form. Transforming requires effort or work to be applied. The analogies that come to mind are things like the work to turn ingredients into a baked good, or to produce a manufactured product.

Conforming "happens" when we're exposed to the culture or world. Television, music, radio, the people around us - all can be influences that conform us to the world.  Transformation happens when we allow Christ to work in our life. The most consistent, direct way of doing this is spending frequent - at least daily - personal time with God - Reading His Word, meditating on it, praying and seeking what He is showing us specifically. 

So, how does the amount of time and energy we're putting into activities that Transform us compare to the time and energy we put into activities that conform us?

Creation Resource links

There are many resources on the Internet regarding Creation ministries. Many are sites promoting an individual speaker or small group of speakers. The sites below have an extensive volume of information available to read, listen to, and watch online, as well as offering collections of books, videos, and other resources. When assessing the value or integrity of a site, a key to check for is to verify that the organization's Statement of Faith or Beliefs specifies firm adherence to Biblical statements regarding literal six 24-hour days of Creation.

Home page of Answers in Genesis:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/

• "Get Answers" at Answers in Genesis (target specific questions you have, or that you've heard as a challenge):
  http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers
• Videos on Demand at Answers in Genesis:
  http://www.answersingenesis.org/media/video/ondemand
• Answers Magazine (Fairly intellectually intense)
  http://www.icr.org/Evidence/
• Answers Research Journal (if Answers Magazine didn't give you headaches...):
  http://www.answersingenesis.org/arj
  

Home page of Creation Museum (affiliated with Answers in Genesis):
http://creationmuseum.org/

Institute for Creation Research:
http://www.icr.org/

• Evidence for Creation at Institute for Creation Research:
  http://www.icr.org/Evidence/

Creation Ministries International (less familiar with this one)
http://creation.com