God at Work: Inspiration for Our Weekly Hustle

By Monde M. Mukela

What happens when you wake up or walk into your office and are confronted by unexpected situations that throw you off balance? Do you take time to pray and ask God for wisdom, or do you just dive in and act the best way you have been taught how? Most of us just dive into the action without any regard for divine wisdom, and the results usually show.

God at Work is a devotional book that inspires us to recognize the need for God’s presence and wisdom in everything we do, including work. The Bible is filled with accounts of individuals who allowed God to guide every detail of their lives and work, and these were the most successful individuals. This devotional highlights some of the scriptures and stories that can inspire us to have more meaningful work experiences.

The world’s hustle leaves very little room for us to catch our breath and reflect on our actions. Every minute invested in seeking the Lord’s guidance can yield us a hundredfold positive outcomes and greater effectiveness. While we face the demand to meet targets and deadlines, may this devotional lead us to drink from the spring that will make our work experiences more purposeful!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973659945

Monde M. Mukela

Monde M. Mukela has always loved to read and collect books from an early age. From this love of books, Monde developed an interest in writing and has written papers, speeches, articles, scripts, and presentations both in her field of work and at church. Monde’s passion, however, is Christian literature—and the Bible is her foremost inspiration. Monde lives in Lusaka, Zambia, where she is actively involved in her church and works as a consultant.

Book preview

1

The Beginning of Things

Genesis 1–2:3

Creating Order

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light.…

Then God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. …

Then God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. …

Then God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seeds, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth. …

Then God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth. …

Then God said, Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.

Then God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind; cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind. …

Then God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. (Genesis 1:1–26)

Genesis 1 takes us through a tapestry of God’s creativity. From nothing, He produced the most creative artistry ever. It must have been exciting, I imagine, filling up this blank slate of earth with creatures of all kinds, including an atmosphere in which they would thrive. It is very interesting how He went about it.

I believe He could have spoken everything into existence in one word or sentence, yet He took His time to place everything in order and in the way that He knew would be most appropriate. He created light, made the atmosphere, separated water from land, filled the water and air with living things, added living creatures on earth, and finally, the ultimate creation of man in His image.

God not only created the heavens and the earth and all that is therein but also a system and order. We see this attribute consistently repeated in the way He worked throughout the Bible. I believe this is the same of us. He works systematically in our lives, leading us to our destiny and His intended purpose for our lives. The paths He leads us through ultimately bring us to a place where we recognise that everything was working for our good and for a purpose. Interestingly, He uses even our wrong turns to take us back to the place we need to be when we realise our folly and surrender to His leading.

System and order are also key elements to success. This is not just about keeping our desks or homes clean and orderly, it is about how we plan and execute our work. Sometimes, we are in such a hurry to get results and meet targets, we end up cutting corners.

Whatever our responsibilities are at work or at home, system and order keep us focused, enable us to manage our affairs effectively, and provide a framework for us to measure our progress. For instance, efficient homemakers are masters of system and order, as that determines how well their day goes as they get their families ready for work or school, prepare meals, and run errands (and to think that most people frown on women who do not work).

Most of us cannot manage our diaries; we barely manage to attend all our meetings and hardly keep up with our plans. There is always so much to do, or perhaps we plan too many things for ourselves.

The other lesson we learn from the story of creation is that God was strategic in placing things on earth. Each element was necessary for the existence of the following elements. Consider how we work, how strategic we are. Do we spend time doing unnecessary things because we were not strategic enough to avoid repeating things and going back and forth? How frustrating is it to waste time, energy, and other resources, chasing things needlessly? If only we had been more systematic.

Each day, week, month, or year is our personal blank slate for us to improve our effectiveness and use the time we have been given more effectively through system and order. Here is our chance to learn from the Master Planner.

Excellence

And God saw that it was good.… Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. (Genesis 1:10, 31)

Each aspect that God created and introduced on earth, He saw that it was good. Hey, nothing about God is not good, so really, we cannot expect anything less. However, He saw that is was good and that it was very good.

It shows how God was satisfied with what He had created. He took the time to review His work and determine that it was what He intended and indeed it was good.

How often are we pleased with our work? I am not too keen on writing official letters and minutes of meetings. I sometimes do these tasks mechanically, as long as they get done. However, I learn from God that whatever He placed on earth, He ensured it was good.

There are other things I enjoy working on that I look at and am proud of; sometimes, I cannot even believe I did them. It is so fulfilling. I imagine how God felt each time He placed things on earth.

We spend most of our waking hours at work. It is therefore important that what we do fulfills us; otherwise, we would be miserable our entire lives. It is also important that excellence drives our work so that we, and those we serve, are happy.

Oftentimes, we get away with mediocre results, all because no one would complain. Yet even when no one notices, when we put in our best, it does wonders for us. Not only does it make us feel happy and satisfied, but it helps us refine our skills and discover more efficient ways of doing things; we become more effective. Eventually, someone will notice.

Our diligent pursuit of excellence is part of our growth as individuals, for that is the only way we explore and exploit our potential. God created the best environment for every living thing to thrive in: plants, animals, and humans alike.

When we excel, we enable our personal achievement and also enable all those impacted by what we do to benefit positively from our work. For instance, writing a well-researched report for a supervisor who makes decisions based on it ultimately benefits everyone if it affects the organisation’s profitability, and well-planned meals ensure your family’s health and optimum performance.

Excellence is therefore one of the values God instituted at creation. While it was marred by sin later, we are still called to do our best.

Our Greatest Potential

Then God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26,