Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
— Ephesians 4:1-3 NAS
As we continue to pray for the workplace and business sphere this month, I often pray that every follower of Jesus will realize their “Career” is all about their calling in Christ Jesus. We do not draw boundary lines or build walls between our so- called “secular” and spiritual lives. Our life is singular, not separated out in various parts that do not inform, inspire and impact one another. We have one life and we live from the condition of our soul, everything we do is indeed spiritual.
Unfortunately, so many people don’t feel “worthy” of a calling. It is easier to focus on a job and lean on what we think is our own education, experience, grit, competitive edge, or at least the idea of “fake it until you make it” but disregard the spiritual sense because they don’t feel worthy of a biblical calling. Christians often don’t believe they are worthy to “go and make disciples” because they’re not a preacher or have a seminary degree; to be honest, sometimes we didn’t understand the sermon from last Sunday morning, so how could we be worthy to go and share the gospel with someone else in our lives?
As you think about your calling in connection with workplace whether it’s in your home at a business, military base, church, in education, government, as a parent, a pastor, an actor, producer, songwriter, artist, ministry leader; whatever it is, you are walking out your spiritual calling, and God has equipped you, God has gifted you, God has given you experiences, education talents by His great grace, His lavish love and His plans for your life!
The amazing thing is that you are the only one who could probably speak into the lives of others with the same job or career.
I don’t know what it’s like to be a pastor and run a church. I don’t know what it’s like to be an actor constantly having to market myself, prove myself, live in a fishbowl trying daily to find and fight for the next opportunity but the people who live like that do. The people who share the same career do know and share some of these same struggles. They are all too familiar with the feeling of that phone call when you got the part and the phone call of we’re sorry we’re not interested. Rejection is a huge part of the life of an entertainer, writer, and entrepreneur, and the only people who can really speak right into the life, the heart, the hardness of that job and lifestyle are people who live it themselves.
Therefore, you have the best chance at connecting heart-to-heart with people in your workplace to testify about what it means to walk and work in the wisdom, courage, assurance, fruitfulness and more in the power, protection and provision of Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Remember our activity does not define our identity. Only your Creator gets to define what He has designed. Our identity is given to us by God, and fuels our activities walking with God. If you don’t know who you are in Christ, study what God has to say about you in Scripture. Don’t listen to your critics, cultural trends or negative friends. Silence that voice in your head that’s always doubting and whispering, “You’re not good enough.” In life sometimes we’re our own worst critic. Christ died on the cross to make you worthy, to give you direct access to your Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, equipping you in every good deed God has prepared for you. Know who you are from the God who created you and let that fuel your entire life to walk in a manner worthy of the work God has called you to do. He makes you worthy. Christ's sacrifice for you makes you worthy. His eternal purposes designed and designated specifically for you makes you worthy! So determine today to walk in that worthiness in your Workplace. Keep learning, growing, and leaning on Jesus.
The week of Sept. 15th, National Day of Prayer Task Force coordinators gathered at our annual Leadership Summit to continue to learn, grow and lean into Jesus for their calling to mobilize unified public prayer for America. It takes a large army of prayer warriors to cover and gather our nation in prayer throughout the year and especially on the first Thursday of May for The National Day of Prayer. As you pray and ask God to lead you in your calling, would you please pray for these dedicated servants who sacrifice so much as they fight spiritual battles every day prayerfully and physically, for God’s Kingdom to come and will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Will you pray with me right now?
Heavenly Father, my Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer and Savior of my life, I praise and thank you now. My life is Yours, all of it. Every moment, everything I do, everything I own, every title, position, influence, talent; all I am is because of You and for Your purposes and glory. I commit myself to You and thank You for making me worthy only in the debt Jesus paid and the finished work on the cross. I submit to You, Holy Spirit to make my life fruitful through the righteousness of Christ as I dwell, as I abide in Jesus and God's Word and Spirit dwells in me. Give me the words, the courage and unrelenting desire to share my testimony of You with everyone You put in my path. Prompt me to share the Gospel of Peace with an anxious, divided, fearful world so that as You draw them, I am there to love them with Your love. Thank You for this powerful calling. My I glorify You always in all my days. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, Amen!
Serving Him with gladness,
Kathy Branzell
President