By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
Dear Readers, I did a study once on how we can choose to have an excellent attitude whatever our circumstances may be, and I came across this column from several years ago and wanted to share it again with you.
Who can forget their first job?
I had the greatest one ever! My best friend and I opened an organic food cafe
in our neighborhood back home. I remember the decor was done in earthy tones and we were quite successful.
Okay, so we were 6 year old entrepreneurs who sold mud pies out of my dad’s newly constructed deer blind. But, it was an income and it paid the car note. (We collected Hot Wheels.)
Since that time my employment history has been somewhat diversified to say the
at least.
I have worked at a convenience store, a floral shop, a dog kennel, veterinarian clinic, and a couple of dept. stores, an insurance agency and newspapers. Many years ago when I first became a sales representative I worked for a company where my schedule was very challenging, but I really enjoyed my job.
(I was a new born again Believer in Christ Jesus so I was actually experiencing life for the first time through His Spirit- I was alive! The way God intended for all of us to be. I had faith, hope and love working within me and I wasn’t doing anything by myself or in my own strength anymore.)
One of my first appointments was with a business owner who was very nice and
straightforward. He had owned his company for quite a while so he was also
extremely knowledgeable.
At our meeting I was bubbly and very enthusiastic and rambled on about the
products we offered along with some ideas I had on how to market his business.
The man never spoke a word and listened with absolutely no expression on his
face but I’ll never forget his response.
When I finished up the presentation I sat back with a wide smile.
(Tadaaaaa!)
He leaned forward and looked me square in the eyes.
“Brenda, do you know what your company does?”
I quirked my head sideways and with a puzzled look replied, “Uh, no Sir, what
Do you mean?”
“Here, I’ll tell ya. They get a fresh eager person like yourself
in here and they will … USE … YOU … UP!!! They will work the life right
out of you and push you so hard until there is nothing left. Then they will get
get rid of you and get another new one.”
Leaning back in his chair he casually added, “I’ve seen it happen time and
again.”
I had no response.
(Hmmm, I don’t think this was in the ‘overcoming objections’ section
of the sales manual.)
So I chose to ignore the remark. Maybe he had recently switched to decaf or
something.
Sadly, over the years I found his statement to be true. But I
discovered something later on. Remember, I said the job had been demanding from the start, but along the way, I quit having an excellent attitude. It wasn’t the company’s fault at all.
I got into sales because I loved people. That was my favorite part of the
job. It wasn’t about making money as much as getting to know my customer’s and
along the way meeting their marketing needs.
And because of my relationship with God I was now “joint heirs with His
Son, Jesus” so I could trust Him because He promises that all of my needs will
be supplied.
It was a no lose situation.
But then I started getting caught up in the doing of my job and not the
being and it started becoming a huge burden. I began to spend less and less time with God and abiding in His word. I started trusting in
myself/self dependent, so I felt the need to work harder and longer hours.
You know, I heard someone explain the Christian life, our relationship with the Lord Jesus like this, “It’s like riding in a plane. Here you are, flying hundreds of miles per hour, way up high! But if you ever forget that you are just the passenger in a plane and begin to think that you’re the one doing the flying and step out of the plane, you’ll crash. It’s not the pilot’s fault that you stepped out of the plane.”
Well, that’s exactly what I had done and it affected every part of my life. And as a result I started resenting the company, and I dreaded coming to work each day. I also took my grievances out on my family.
I quit being thankful to God for all the good things in my life. Number one, the wonderful gift of His Son. I started joining in with the grumblers and complainers. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that “Death and life are in the power of our tongues, and those who love it will eat the fruit thereof.” My words were a joy killer at that job.
God has a plan for each of our lives but He never
wants us to get so caught up in the doing part for Him that we should forget the
real reason for our existence. (And here is a P.S., many Christians may go their whole lives without discovering God’s plan for them. This can lead to a Holy dissatisfaction in their spirit. There is a great teaching I heard called “How to Find, Follow and Fulfill God’s Plan For Your Life.”)
God’s will for each of His children is to experience an intimate, loving and power-filled relationship with the only true living God through His Son Christ Jesus.
He wants each one of us to experience Him in such a way that our works for
God will be a fruit from our fellowship with Him, and not a root to a
relationship with Him. Big difference. From a life of servitude to gratitude.
I have heard it put this way, “God does not want to use us up like a tube of
toothpaste.”
But you can’t give away what you don’t have.
Receive the goodness of God today by faith in what He as already provided
by grace and your life will not be just a daily routine, it can become a daily adventure in Love. I also heard this said of Christians, “If your life isn’t supernatural, it’s superficial.”
Discover, or recover the knowledge of God’s love for you, and you will have an excellent attitude at the job, home or wherever you are.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!” Do you know where he was at when he wrote this? In prison. In the darkest, dampest part of the prison, where open sewage ran through and rats were his only companions. He had deep open wounds on his back from the latest flogging and his body was locked in stockades. If anyone had an opportunity to complain, Paul did. His only crime was trying to tell people about the Lord Jesus and His love for them.
So, I figure if Paul can “rejoice in the Lord always” under these circumstances than whatever I am going through at the moment, is NO big deal. I can choose how I am going to respond to my job, and my life.
And so can you. This is true, if you know the Lord Jesus, if you have truly been born again in Christ, then you can’t lose for winning.
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3 NKJV
“Therefore, do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?’ Or “What shall we drink?’ Or “What shall we wear?” For all of these things the Gentiles seek. For Your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for today is its own trouble.” Matt. 6:31-34 NKJV
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
