When You've "Had It" At Work

Let's pray before we look into the Word of God. Father, now we come to your Word. We come to the worship of hearing you speak to us. We pray that we would hear your voice in the text of Scripture, for this is your mind, your voice, and all that you want us to know. Help us, Lord, so that, again, your name would be honored and glorified. Lord, we want to live for your glory.

We want to live in such a way that as we live before men, they look to our God and they speak of him and not of us. They speak of his glory. They speak of his reality. They attribute everything to him because of the way that we live. So help us now, we pray, for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. take a moment today consider the hours of the day where do you spend most of those waking hours you know you spend them at work if you look at your entire lifetime you will find that most of your life most of your waking hours at least have been spent at work and since you spend the major portion of your life at work, then I think it's good for us to consider what God has to say about it on this Labor Day weekend. And since you spend the major part of your waking life at work, then you can't ignore it and expect God to be glorified by what you're doing. You will have, in my view, you will have the greatest impact for Christ's cause at work or you'll do the greatest damage for Christ's cause.

At work. And since that's the case, I think it's good for us to think about what God has to say about work. And particularly this. What should you do when you feel like you've had it? Right? I'm sorry, I picked the wrong thing.

No one of you has ever felt that way, is that right? Yeah, we've all been there, haven't we? I've had it. I'm done. I just want to rebel. I don want to do what they telling me This is just ridiculous I mean what do you do when you disagree with your team leader What do you do when he takes advantage of you What do you do when the company policy is ridiculous Or when the new ideas are just the old ideas dressed up differently when the way the company treats you is just plain unfair when all your co turn against you because you're a Christian and you're doing things different than them.

Do you badmouth the boss or the company? Do you work against the policies or the regulations? Do you stand up for your rights? Do you gather under your leadership everybody who agrees with you in order to make a point or maybe even follow such a leader? Do you start to retaliate against your workmates for treating you badly? What should you do?

What direction does the Bible give you when you're misunderstood by your co-workers, when you're mistreated by the leadership, when you're insulted by the new policies? What does God tell you to do then? Because that's where we all are. That's what happens at work. Happens all the time, doesn't it? Well, this morning I want us to look at three questions you need to ask yourself when you've had it.

Three questions you need to ask yourself when you've had it. Here's the first one. What is your agenda? What is your agenda? Now, I'm a firm believer in agendas. The elders will tell you that I never come to a meeting, or they never come to a meeting, until they've gotten an agenda.

There are certain things that we have to cover. Every business meeting we have here, we have an agenda. There are certain things that we need to cover, certain things that we need to accomplish. An agenda lists what you want to accomplish. Well, whether you know it or not, you are always working with an agenda. You're always working with them.

Whether you know it or not, you have an agenda. There are certain things you want. When the team leader springs those unfair regulations on you, you start leading the revolt or the quiet rebellion, you know, like just doing things slower or something a little more underhanded than that. Let me ask you, what is your agenda? What is your agenda? Here it is.

I don't want to be treated in this manner. I deserve better than this. when you submit the great idea like the company says i remember when i was working at brock just before i came here we got from the japanese what you guys at honda been working with for a while we adopted it to quality circles are they do they still exist quality circles everybody gets together to solve a problem and we present this idea and if you know if it a good idea you win a trip to Japan or something I don know But the point is, the company says, we want your ideas. So you work your hardest, you submit the things and nothing ever gets implemented, right?

And, yeah, I can see the faces of recognition out there. Yeah, and so what do you do? You start saying, well, they want our ideas, but they're really not interested in them. Why even bother? You tell everybody else, don't even bother with it. They're not going to do it anyway.

What's your agenda? This company needs to treat us with more respect. It needs to understand that we count for something. We're not dummies here. We know how to run these presses. We're down here every day.

We know better than those engineers up in the office what to do, right? What do you do when your department has a meeting about some new things they want to try in your area, and you reply, count me out, you're not going to pull the wool over my eyes again, right? What's your agenda, right? You can't do that to me. No, no. I'm not going to be hustled again.

No, no. You're not going to hustle me again like you did last time. Now what's the common element in all those agendas? What is it? It's me. It's my rights.

It's what I need, my treatment, what matters to me in the present. Now let me say this to you, and I want you to hear me out. Do not misunderstand. Companies should never exploit their workers, and they should treat them with respect. All right? In fact, in our New Testament reading from this morning, you heard what God says about the employers who keep back their wages so that they get rich and their workers slave away for them, right?

God talks about that. What does he say? All that gold that you have, it's getting corroded. And that corrosion will be a witness against you on the day of judgment. Don't think that God doesn't see that. He does.

He does. And what did we hear of the people who worked in Egypt, who were abused horribly? What does it say It says God heard them And God had compassion on them right So don misunderstand me I'm not saying that it's okay for companies to exploit you. I'm not saying it's all right that your employer takes advantage of you. Do not think that God always sides with those in authority and those who are powerful.

He has a special concern for his children who are being used and abused. And his justice will find expression even for those who employ you and really are ripping you off. He is concerned about that and he's keeping track. of every penny that you should have been paid and weren't. Okay? However, the agenda for justice is not God's agenda for us right now.

It's on His agenda, but it's not the number one item on that agenda for now. What is it? Turn to Philippians chapter 1. Here's the number one thing in God's agenda. Judgment of those who exploit is on his agenda. But it's not the number one item on his agenda right now.

What is his number one item on the agenda? Philippians chapter 1, I'll begin reading in that break in verse 18. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope, that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet, what shall I choose? I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. So that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. This was written by Paul when he's in a difficult spot. When he is being not treated fairly and justly by the, if you will, by the leader of the world then.

And here he tells us the agenda that God has set for you. The agenda that tells us what God expects in any and every situation. I'd point you to verse 20 where he says I have one goal in mind that no matter whether by life or by death there's only one thing that matters, only one it's the only thing that matters is that Christ will be honored in my body that Christ will be magnified now don't miss out what he says here whether by life or by death, right? whether by life whether I get what I want or death Well, maybe I get what I want here and what's going to happen if I live, right?

Either way, as we look at that, here's what he's saying. I, and you've heard me say this before, I am not the main player in this drama. Jesus is. And whether I live or whether I die, it does not matter what happens to me. the only thing that matters is that they see Jesus. You see? That He is magnified.

That He looks big to them. That at the end of the day, they will say, you know so and so? I'll tell you what, He is like Jesus. He is like Christ. That's your goal. That's what you want. that's God's agenda for you and when you start to rebel and grumble and retaliate you need to ask yourself this question what's more important to me that I be treated a certain way or that Jesus be seen in this hardship what is the most important thing at that moment that's what you have to ask yourself what is my agenda is it to get fair treatment not that fair treatment is wrong But is that more important than being like Jesus?

That what you have to ask yourself What is my agenda You see When you follow God agenda you will find that you have great freedom When you fail in achieving what you want, what happens? You end up in frustration and wallowing around in self-pity. However, when you make it your goal to magnify Christ, no matter what the circumstances are, you can succeed.

By the grace of God. And it doesn't matter what anybody says about you. You can lay your head down on your pillow that night with a sense of satisfaction and joy. That what you did today put Christ before your co-workers and your bosses. You will have been successful in the eyes of God. If that's your goal.

So always ask yourself the question, what is my agenda? All right? Now, there's a second question you must ask yourself when you've had it. What does God expect you to do? What does God expect you to do? Now, I've only picked out three passages here, but there are many more.

I've just picked out three. Just to kind of give you an idea, all right, of what God expects you to do. Turn back to 1 Peter chapter 2. I read this today in our confession. 1 Peter 2, verses 18 through 25. Now, as I read this, and as I read it before, I cannot help but think that this just cuts across the grain.

You know, I remember one time in college in my ethics class, I chose the topic civil disobedience. And I want to tell you right now, I looked at this passage and it just blew the guts out of that paper. I did not know what to do with this passage. If I remember right, I came up with something that made the passage say what it really wasn't. Because this is really hard to take.

What he says here is very difficult to take But it there We have to deal with it What is it Verse 18 Servants be subject to your masters with all respect not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?

What's the answer? Well, there's no credit for that. You're getting what you deserve. But if when you do good and suffer and you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called. Because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in His steps.

He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were strained like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

God expects you to submit. God expects you to submit. Submit even when you are treated harshly and unfairly. Now again, that just cuts across the American way of thinking. But that is exactly what he's saying here. You cannot explain that away.

Even a college student couldn't do it with any kind of integrity. It's there. You submit not only to the ones who treat you well, but to the ones who treat you harshly. You submit with all respect. Well, what does submission look like? Well, obviously, the first thing is you do what you're told.

That's a no-brainer, isn't it? That's submission. But what else? It means, verses 22 and 23, no retaliation. No retaliation. And notice that he says much about your mouth here, your tongue.

You're to make no threats. And you're not to revile. Bad mouth, if you will. Because that's what Jesus did. That's what Jesus did not do. Jesus submitted to harsh abuse without retaliating with his mouth without cursing his persecutors without saying bad things about them or to them But most importantly, submission looks like Jesus.

Submission looks like Jesus. How important is it to you to look like Jesus? The world may say you're just a doormat. God says you're like Christ. which verdict is the most important to you? This is hard. Christ-like character is a submissive character.

And notice, he says, Christ suffered. Shall we go back to the Gospels to see how Jesus suffered? And he left that as an example for you in the workplace. He's aiming this at slaves. you may be called a company man a brown nose but god says it's commendable it is christ-like but please note peter does not leave us without hope he says in verses 24 and 25 that jesus death is not only an example but it's redemptive it frees you from your sin now this passage is not saying that Jesus was a substitute for us so that we're right with God.

This passage is saying that he carried our sins in his body to the cross and there they were killed so that now we can live in a different way. That when Jesus went to the cross, our natural impulses for retaliation and fair treatment were nailed to the cross. Those impulses that say, that's not right, I want what's right. Not wrong in themselves. But when they become more important than God's number one item on the agenda, they're wrong.

And Jesus died in order to free us from these natural impulses that surround me. Because of what Jesus did at Calvary, you're not capable of uncomplaining, unprotesting submission because idolatrous impulses do not control you anymore. Jesus died. so that you can submit in those kinds of circumstances. Do you hear? Do you see what that passage says? One of the purposes for His death was to free you so that you could submit in difficult circumstances.

It's going to take the death of Jesus in order to free us that way, isn't it? That is not an easy thing to do what He's saying here. That's why he gives us hope and says, when you were that way, you're like straying sheep. But now, because of what Jesus did at the cross, you've returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. Here's another thing that God expects you to do at work.

God expects you to adorn the gospel. God expects you to adorn the gospel. Titus chapter 2. In our flock, we've read through the book of Titus and talked about it some, so the people in my flock, this is not going to be anything new. But you remember in chapter 2, he's telling us how we ought to live, how we ought to live in our families, how we ought to live, the older women and the younger women, the older men and the younger men.

And he deals with family and households. And part of that is his instruction to slaves. Chapter 2, verses 9 and 10. Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. Now look at the work ethic that's described here.

First on the list again is submission. That's what God requires at the top of the list. Submission. Next, he says, you need to be well-pleasing. You work in such a way that your boss, your team leader, your employer is satisfied with your work. He's satisfied with your work.

Have you ever asked your supervisor, hey, is this what you want it done? He says, what? Right? We don't want to give him that kind of leverage, do we? You're going to work in such a way that your boss is pleased. Not argumentative.

Do you have the reputation of doing what your boss says without arguing with him Do you You should You know Ah come on that stupid Are you kidding They don make line two do that Why are you making us do that Right Without argument Not pilfering or stealing Now, I know how it is at Honda. I know a couple of you, not you, but a couple of Honda employees certainly have carried home an entire car in your lunchbox, right? I mean, that's the big joke.

You work in the car plant, you carry home a car in your lunchbox. So he's talking about pilfering and stealing things from your work, from your employer, and things like that. I think it also applies to our time. You know what? I was a pilfer when it came to my employer, Brock Binns, because at break time I'd be reading, and I had to finish the paragraph or the chapter when break was over, right?

I don't know if I'd lose much money for that time, but I might. I had to finish my chapter before I'd go back to work, right? That's pilfering as well. Now, the last thing he says is, but showing all good faith. The word for faith is also the word faithfulness. And so I would suggest that he's saying, you show all good faithfulness.

That is to say, you're reliable. You're a reliable employee. How are you when it comes to calling off sick? or your day's off. You're reliable. You know, though your boss knows, you're going to show up for work. Your boss knows you're going to show up for work.

I remember when I worked in the foundry, my job was to fill in when someone didn't show up. And I had work every day. Right? Reliable. You know, I know someone in this congregation who missed five days of work in 32 years of a career. that's reliability, that's faithfulness. Now why should you work this way?

He tells us why. Why? So that you adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. You adorn the gospel. This kind of work ethic adorns the gospel It makes the gospel attractive to unbelievers Now, the word that he uses, adorn, here, is the word from which we get cosmetics. Okay?

Now, when you ladies, makeup, put your makeup on, You do it to make yourself more attractive. You don't do it so that you're unrecognizable. I'm not even going to make a joke now, okay? You put on makeup so that you're more attractive, right? Not to make you unrecognizable, but to highlight the good features and bring those out and all that kind of stuff, all that sort of thing, okay?

That's why you do that. What he's saying is here, the way you work doesn't change the gospel, but it highlights what it does so that others are attracted to it. This kind of work ethic is like makeup. It doesn't change the gospel. And in fact, it doesn't take away your responsibility of speaking the gospel. But what it does is make the gospel attractive.

Now, I knew a guy when I was growing up who was a believer. And he talked about Jesus all day long to people. But he never got his work done. What do you think happened to his gospel witness? It didn't make it attractive at all. It pushed people away.

You work like this, you're going to adorn the gospel. You're going to make it attractive. You're going to draw people in. If you work this way, I'll tell you what, doesn't this say something to us all about why I should work this way? There's something higher. There's something greater.

There's a much higher purpose than just whether I'm making it through or not. Or whether I'm being treated a certain way. The higher purpose is it attracts people to Christ. It adorns the gospel. here's the last thing I would suggest to you that you need to do at work and that says God says battle evil with good battle evil with good Again I want you to turn back to 1 Peter because it in the context of Christian suffering By the way, submission is not just a women's issue.

You notice that in 1 Peter 2, two-thirds of the commands for submission are addressed to all Christians. By the way, let me just say this. If you're the kind of guy that complains about work all the time and telling your wife how horrible your boss is and how you're not going to do those stupid things and how the regulations are dumb and how you get around it, don't be surprised then.

Don't be surprised if your wife isn't submissive then. You set the pace of submission, men. You ever think about that? You know, some women, some guys have come to me and said, well, my wife's just not submission. I was like, really? That's not a surprise.

I've watched you all these years. Anyway, I'm off the track here. I'm off the track. So he tells us three times to be submissive. And then right after that, in chapter 3, verses 9 through 12, he says, Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. For to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. do battle battle evil with good especially when your workmates turn against you battle that evil with good and you notice what he says here he does not say if you're being treated badly then just avoid that person if someone's cussing you out all the time he doesn't say bite your tongue.

What does he say? You make sure that if someone misuses you, you do good. Right back to him. If someone cusses you out before the shift is over, you're going to find some way of blessing that person with your tongue. It's not good enough to avoid that person. It's not good enough to bite your tongue.

He says you've got to go to war. You have to go to war. We cannot be satisfied with the kind of responses that keep walls between us so we don't get in any confrontation. When someone does something wrong to you, you are responsible because of Jesus your Lord and what He told you to do and what He did to return good for evil. That's what we're responsible to do.

And notice, seek peace and pursue it. You should be a peacemaker wherever you work. Particularly with you. That is, you don't avoid that person. You try to reconcile that relationship. You work hard at seeking peace.

Wow. And about this point you're saying, please don't give us any more. By the way, always understand, I'm preaching to myself whenever I preach to you. I've been preaching to myself all week. Just to make sure the scales are balanced there. So you always ask yourself, you always ask yourself, what does God expect me to do?

What does God expect me to do? Now there's one more question you need to ask when you've had it. One more question. How can you voice your dissatisfaction? How can you voice your dissatisfaction? You may be tempted at this point to say, what are you talking about?

You've told us we can't do that. No, actually I haven't. I haven't told you that. I haven't told you it's wrong to voice your dissatisfaction. I've told you how you ought to work. Not me, it's God who's telling you.

Telling you how you ought to work and how you ought to look at your agenda and what's your primary goal in life is to magnify Christ and it's to work a certain way. But what happens if there is injustice? What happens if things aren't right? Then what? There is, you can voice your dissatisfaction. But first of all, you have to ask yourself the first question.

What's my agenda? You always got to ask that question. What's my agenda here? is it to bad mouth my team leader Is it to tell him just exactly what I think I got to get this off my chest By the way, when you use that phraseology, I've just got to get this off my chest. What you've just communicated to someone is, I don't care about you, I only care about me.

I've got to give you a piece of my mind. I don't care about you. The only thing is that I get to feel better. Always look at your agenda. But having done that, use the means that are available to you. How so?

It's instructive to me in the book of Acts how the Apostle Paul acted in unjust situations. So let's look at those. Turn to Acts chapter 16. Now in Acts chapter 16, we know the story that Paul and Silas get into trouble. and the magistrates throw them in jail, lock them up, earthquake, doors fly open, Philippian jailer is converted, he comes to Christ.

All right? Now, watch what happens. Chapter 16, verse 35, all that's happened now. But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police saying, let those men go. And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, the magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore, come out now and go in peace.

But Paul said to them, they have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison, and do they now throw us out secretly? No. Let them come themselves and take us out. The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens, Because in those days, you could beat and throw people in jail at will if they weren't Roman citizens.

And in the Roman Empire, probably only about one-third of all the people who lived in the empire were citizens. So, you know, you didn't pay much attention to that. But Paul was a Roman citizen, which is an unusual thing. But let's go on. They were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia, and when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. What's Paul doing here? He using the system There was a way of dealing with things like that and he used it You can treat a Roman citizen like that I personally think one of the reasons why he did that was so that they leave that church alone Now I'm going to make a public spectacle of this, because they may then say, those are the people that are associated with Paul.

Let's just, we're not going to touch those folks. Look what happened last time. Now that's just speculation. The point I want you to see here is this. When Paul was treated unjustly, he used the law of the land to say, you can't do that. Right?

Look over at Acts chapter 25 now. Acts chapter 25. Paul's in Caesarea. Been in prison for a couple of years now. verses 8 through 12. We'll start in verse 6. After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea.

And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. That's Festus. When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many in serious charges against him that they could not prove. Paul argued in his defense, neither against the law of the Jews nor against the temple nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.

But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me? But Paul said, I'm standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourselves know very well. If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death.

But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with his counsel, answered, To Caesar you have appealed, to Caesar you shall go. Another instance where Paul says, you know what? Festus is just trying to court the Jews and he wants me to go back to Jerusalem. It's not going to turn out well for me there.

So as a citizen, I make my appeal to Caesar. I'm standing before a tribunal of Caesar. I have the right as a citizen to appeal to Caesar And so Festus says you right to Caesar you shall go Now what Paul doing here He using the system There was a way of seeing fair treatment done. There was a way of seeing that justice was done at that point. And so Paul did not lead a revolt against the system that treated him unfairly, but he used the means available.

Now, what does that mean for you? It means your company has policies. It means that if your company violates the policies, you're not wrong in saying, wait a minute, doesn't it say here in the book, right, you all have a book, right? Everybody has one of those. Okay? Right here in the book it says that.

Alright? Here's what it says. Or if there's a system of appeals within your company. There's nothing wrong with using those things. The point is this. What happens when that fails?

What happens when that fails? You must be like Jesus, accept the consequences, and entrust yourself to the one who judges justly. because that's what Jesus did, didn't he? He didn't go outside the ordained means that God had given him. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. That's where I think we have a lot of trouble, don't we? We don't entrust ourselves to God.

And sometimes when we use the means available, we'll get what we want. Sometimes we won't. Whatever it is, I've got to entrust myself to God. That's really important to do. All right? Because his agenda right now is this.

Show him Christ. Down here lower on the agenda, everybody gets justice. I'll get to that. But right now, that's not the top thing on the agenda. Right now, it's that you magnify Christ. I'll take care of the justice later.

Right? So entrust yourself to the one who judges justly. All right? But use the means that God has given. I'm reminded of the Christians who once lived under the Soviet Union. They would often appeal in their trials to the Soviet Constitution.

Why? Well, it was the law of the land and technically they shouldn't have been thrown in jail. And so they would appeal to the Constitution. Nothing wrong with that. It didn't get them anywhere. gladly for Christ, but they tried to use the means that were available. And make sure you do this.

When you use those means, Colossians chapter 4, when you use the means that God has given you in your company or with your employer, team leader, whatever the case may be, when you do that, make sure you speak in a godly fashion. Colossians chapter 4, verses 5 and 6. Make sure you speak in a godly fashion. Here's what he says. Oops. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Do not use speech that is antagonistic and alienating. Use gracious speech speech that is pleasant or attractive seasoned with salt words that you choose carefully Words that you choose carefully If your employer has the means of redressing grievances, use them.

Go ahead and use them. However, as you use the system, don't use it to badmouth the company. Don't use it to run your ticket leader down. Okay? Don't use it to complain, but use gracious, well-chosen words. So the last question you ought to ask is, how can I voice my dissatisfaction?

The bottom line is this. When you go to work, you ought to see the cross. You ought to see the cross. and you need to ask these questions because of that cross. Because you know why? Jesus died to make us good and godly workers He died to make us good good workers and godly workers That's why he died. That's one of the reasons why he died.

So that the atonement that Jesus made to God and the powerful effect of that redeeming act would actually affect us at our work. We're not just talking about, God redeemed me from hell, and so I'm glad I'm going to heaven. Oh, my team leader is an idiot. No. He died to redeem you from that too. Look for the cross when you go to work.

When work is harsh or unfair, God isn't looking for rebels. He's looking for light. how do you look in God's eyes what's his verdict as you go go in the confidence that what Jesus has done has redeemed you so that you can be this way And to always keep before you this idea I not working for these people, I'm working for God. How does He see my work? Father, thank You for Your Word.

Thank You for its clear, incisive, detailed look at our life. Father, help us not to despair at this moment with what you require, but help us to remember that the gospel produces this in us. That it isn't doubling down and grinding it out, but it's looking to you in dependence, always keeping the cross before us, asking for your help, asking for your grace every day, that these things will happen.

Grant it, we pray, so that we, your people, will be noticeably different in our work.