Trust Jesus in the Workplace
Do you trust Jesus every day? Do you acknowledge His Presence where you work every day and trust in Him every time you need some sort of help throughout the day. If not, why not? I talked about this a little in my last post, but it's worth a little more time. It gets us to the reality of really trusting in God and why most of us don't really rely totally on God.
I mentioned a phrase you probably know: work as if you everything depends on you; pray as if everything depends on God. I've read that St Ignatius Loyola first said this, but I think it pre-dates him. In fact, I once attended a lecture where someone claimed St Ignatius actually said something else. The speaker suggested St Ignatius really said: work as if everything depends on God; pray as if everything depends on you. I found it inspiring then, thinking about it. Let's think about it some more now, especially the part about work.
Think about it: work as if everything depends on God. It deals directly with this whole problem of relying on ourselves and not on God. It tells us to work with total dependence on God. But if we do that - really do it - doesn't it mean we can't "take credit" for things?
Ah, yes! And that's maybe why so many of us don't go to Jesus with our problems and challenges throughout the work day. We work hard, we put in an honest day's work and, by golly, we want credit for our efforts - at least a pat on the back for goodness sake!
Besides, a real man relies on himself. We don't complain, we can "take it" when trouble comes our way. We'll "figure it out" whatever we have to face.
Well, there's no sin in that. But there is a problem. The problem lies in the simple fact that we'll never really make any progress in our spiritual lives if we rely on ourselves. The real progress in the spiritual life comes when we learn - gradually, over time, with much effort - to rely totally on God.
Think about this: have you ever read about a saint who talked about what they accomplished? Can you picture St Francis of Assisi walking about begging and preaching and worrying about getting credit for choosing a simple life of poverty, living as closely as possible to the way he pictured Our Lord lived? Do you think he was worried about getting credit for this? Or do you think he so loved Our Lord, was so infused with an overwhelming love of God and people, that he gave everything up for His sake?
And so it goes with all the saints. I challenge you to find a word or example from any of them that shows them taking credit for anything. If anything, you find them accusing themselves of being miserable sinners - and these are the saints!
One of the things that made them saints was their understanding that everything good comes from God - everything. They lived lives based on that understanding. And so they gave credit for everything good in their lives to God.
But how could they possibly not take any credit for themselves? They worked so hard, some of them literally dying of illness or exhaustion because they prayed and worked so hard.
Well, the only thing that makes sense here is that they relied totally on God - TOTALLY. They simply went to Him in their prayer and work every day and did what they thought was His will. Every time they faced an obstacle, every time they dealt with any problem, they immediately went to Him (and, of course, to Our Lady). They relied on His finding the solution. They learned to listen carefully so that they could find out what the solution was.
You don't get to the point of relying totally on God, of trusting Him entirely, overnight. It's something you work at, day after day. It's something that, by God's grace, takes shape over time. But it's the only way to really get close to God.
That's why it's so important to trust Jesus every day. That's why it's so important to acknowledge His presence and go to Him throughout the day, most especially when you need help with something. It's our only way to get closer to Him - to rely on Him.
We spend so much of our time at work, yet so little of that time with Jesus. It's time to change things. It's time to spend more and more of our time at work calling on Him and relying on Him.
Of course, you'll have to get used to the idea that you don't get the credit. But don't worry. When He starts helping out, you'll realize that the good you do comes from Him. And when you realize that, it'll be no big deal giving credit where credit is due.
And, hey, you know what? If you can rely on Him totally and give Him all the credit, you'll be acting just like the saints. Pretty good company to be in, isnt' it?
I mentioned a phrase you probably know: work as if you everything depends on you; pray as if everything depends on God. I've read that St Ignatius Loyola first said this, but I think it pre-dates him. In fact, I once attended a lecture where someone claimed St Ignatius actually said something else. The speaker suggested St Ignatius really said: work as if everything depends on God; pray as if everything depends on you. I found it inspiring then, thinking about it. Let's think about it some more now, especially the part about work.
Think about it: work as if everything depends on God. It deals directly with this whole problem of relying on ourselves and not on God. It tells us to work with total dependence on God. But if we do that - really do it - doesn't it mean we can't "take credit" for things?
Ah, yes! And that's maybe why so many of us don't go to Jesus with our problems and challenges throughout the work day. We work hard, we put in an honest day's work and, by golly, we want credit for our efforts - at least a pat on the back for goodness sake!
Besides, a real man relies on himself. We don't complain, we can "take it" when trouble comes our way. We'll "figure it out" whatever we have to face.
Well, there's no sin in that. But there is a problem. The problem lies in the simple fact that we'll never really make any progress in our spiritual lives if we rely on ourselves. The real progress in the spiritual life comes when we learn - gradually, over time, with much effort - to rely totally on God.
Think about this: have you ever read about a saint who talked about what they accomplished? Can you picture St Francis of Assisi walking about begging and preaching and worrying about getting credit for choosing a simple life of poverty, living as closely as possible to the way he pictured Our Lord lived? Do you think he was worried about getting credit for this? Or do you think he so loved Our Lord, was so infused with an overwhelming love of God and people, that he gave everything up for His sake?
And so it goes with all the saints. I challenge you to find a word or example from any of them that shows them taking credit for anything. If anything, you find them accusing themselves of being miserable sinners - and these are the saints!
One of the things that made them saints was their understanding that everything good comes from God - everything. They lived lives based on that understanding. And so they gave credit for everything good in their lives to God.
But how could they possibly not take any credit for themselves? They worked so hard, some of them literally dying of illness or exhaustion because they prayed and worked so hard.
Well, the only thing that makes sense here is that they relied totally on God - TOTALLY. They simply went to Him in their prayer and work every day and did what they thought was His will. Every time they faced an obstacle, every time they dealt with any problem, they immediately went to Him (and, of course, to Our Lady). They relied on His finding the solution. They learned to listen carefully so that they could find out what the solution was.
You don't get to the point of relying totally on God, of trusting Him entirely, overnight. It's something you work at, day after day. It's something that, by God's grace, takes shape over time. But it's the only way to really get close to God.
That's why it's so important to trust Jesus every day. That's why it's so important to acknowledge His presence and go to Him throughout the day, most especially when you need help with something. It's our only way to get closer to Him - to rely on Him.
We spend so much of our time at work, yet so little of that time with Jesus. It's time to change things. It's time to spend more and more of our time at work calling on Him and relying on Him.
Of course, you'll have to get used to the idea that you don't get the credit. But don't worry. When He starts helping out, you'll realize that the good you do comes from Him. And when you realize that, it'll be no big deal giving credit where credit is due.
And, hey, you know what? If you can rely on Him totally and give Him all the credit, you'll be acting just like the saints. Pretty good company to be in, isnt' it?
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