The Lord Watches Over You

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord, high and exalted,
seated on his throne watches over you –
The Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the I AM who I AM is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The commander of the army of the Lord
will keep you from all harm –
he will watch over your life;

The Lord, the Lion of the tribe of Judah
who has triumphed over death and hell
will watch over your coming and going
both now and for evermore.

Psalm 121

Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me a fresh glimpse today of your holiness and majesty. Thank you that your Son has triumphed over death and hell and is watching over my coming and my going. Keep my feet from slipping, so that your name may be glorified through my life.Amen.

Rejoice!

Come, rejoice today! Allow the joy of the Lord to well up in your soul and overflow into your work.

Joy is a supernatural fruit of the Spirit. Joy transcends your circumstances. Joy transcends the work you have to finish. Joy transcends the happiness or conflicts you may be experiencing at work. Joy rises above your circumstances, annoyances, disagreements, and frustrations because God who began a good work in you will be faithful to carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. You can be filled with joy today because the Lord is present with you right now in your workplace to strengthen you. You can rejoice this moment because you are God’s child, you are united with Christ, and nothing can separate you from God’s love.

When you stand firm rejoicing gentleness will flow out of your life into all your relationships. When your life is filled with joy, God softens your heart and understanding so that you can gladly accept your co-workers and customers exactly as they are. A life filled with joy, is like a warm, welcoming home where they can enter without being worthy or deserving, or fear of being hurt. The joy of the Lord overflows from your life with words and actions that bring healing and encouragement.

It isn’t always easy to be live with joy, or to be gentle with all people. There is a secret to joy when you hear the hounds of anxiety howling in the distance or snapping at your heels. The secret is to take everything, every business decision, every technical challenge, every presentation, every conversation, every wonderful experience and every stressful situation with thanksgiving to God in prayer.

Prayer is like plunging into the life giving fountain of God’s grace so that you can be supernaturally refreshed for your tasks at work. Acknowledge your utter dependence on God. Acknowledge that God in his sovereignty is supreme over your work today. Express your complete trust in God and joy will well up in your life.

God who is totally trustworthy, who transcends anything your mind can imagine, promises to set soldiers around your heart and mind to keep out all the alien forces who would disrupt your joy, who would ravage your mind with fears or crush your heart with anxiety. When you come to God in prayer, God promises you his peace. God’s peace will bring you the hope, confidence and strength to carry on with joy even when the burdens are heavy and the pathway is rough.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Why I Care About Theology - Part Three

Over the last two weeks I have shared with you how the story of creation and a Biblical perspective on boundaries sets me free to enjoy my work.

This week I want to look at how theology gives me perspective when things go wrong.

Designing a new system never goes as quickly as I want it to go or as smoothly as I want it to go. As people test the system they discover things that are missing, or have been configured incorrectly.

Communication is always a challenge in every large project I’ve worked on, and miscommunication seems to happen sooner or later. God creates each person with different communication style. As a result there are challenges finding the right way to communicate the scope and breath of a project to each interested party. 

Theology teaches me that things will go wrong, that miscommunication and conflict are the norm for this world because of our desire to be gods which alienates us from God. But theology doesn’t leave me without hope. Theology tells me that right now God is working out a perfect plan of redemption. 

God offers me the privilege to enter by faith into a restored relationship with him. More than that, in fact much more than that, theology assures me that there is a day coming when I will spend eternity with God as one of His children, and on that day there will no longer be communication problems, conflict or broken systems. 

As his child God promises that the day will come when he will test my work. He will decide by fire – which of my work is worth preserving like fine gold, and which of my work should be destroyed. This is freeing, because it means that when my work isn’t up to snuff, my work won’t follow me for eternity. But I also know that when I do my best, I don’t have to look for human approval, for I will receive the ultimate approval, the only approval that counts in the long run – God’s approval. 

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans (Prov 16:3). 

There is a freedom in knowing that God is in control of all things including my work and he has promised it will turn out with a joyful ending beyond my wildest imaginations 

So why am I, passionate about theology? Because I believe that if we as Christian’s can articulate clearly and simply why our faith in God makes a difference in our work life, we have an amazing and compelling story to share with our co-workers. 

How does knowing the stories of sin and redemption bring hope into your workday?

Why I Care About Theology Part Two

Last week I shared with you how the story of creation sets me free to enjoy what I am doing without worrying about what other people think or say, for the story of creation tells me I live my life to please my Creator.

This week I want to share with you how theology provides a perspective on the boundaries and constraints on my life.

Theology teaches me that there are boundaries within which I am supposed to live my life and do my work. Within those boundaries I am free to explore, discover and use whatever I find. These boundaries are meant to keep me safe.

One of these boundaries, is that I am a finite being, with a finite set of skills and abilities. God lovingly chose these skills and abilities just for me, for this time, and this place where I live. As long as I am doing my work within the limitations of these skills and abilities, I find joy and peace.

Another constraint on my life is my socio-economic status, the culture I was born into, the place where I live and my family. Theology tells me that God in his infinite wisdom and love chose exactly these circumstances for me to live in. Knowing that God doesn’t make any mistakes, I am free from comparing myself to other people; I am free from dwelling on my situation; free from trying to please other people; I am free to focus on God; I am free to enjoy being me; I am free to choose to live my life for God’s glory. 

Theology forces me to look beyond myself, and see that God has surrounded me with other men and women each of whom God has blessed with unique gifts and abilities. It is only as I do my part as an engineer alongside the larger team that God has placed around me that the train control safety systems I design come to fruition. These boundaries set me free! They mean that I don’t have to be a marketer, or a welder, I just have to be me! 

How does knowing God, change your perspective on the boundaries and limitations of your life?

Next week … How theology offers a perspective when things go wrong.