A Prayer To Face Our Work Situation - Whatever It Is - As We Come Out Of The Pandemic

After the health care system challenges in country after country – first places like Spain then Great Britain, Brazil, United States, and now India – I suspect the next biggest crisis connected to this pandemic is the impact on work – both illness and lockdowns and the impact of social distancing.  Many small businesses are gone – some temporarily and others for good.  All sorts of people have lost jobs not just during lockdowns but ongoing as companies downsize to try to survive going forward.  A whole other group of workers are simply burned out with the challenges they’ve had to face for so long and are leaving the work force jobs they’ve held for some time. 

How things get done is changing as well.  Many entry level jobs are being done now with technology in one form and another.  What will remote and on location work look like going forward?  Home and family life balance?  A lot of change that was already on the way prior to the pandemic has certainly be accelerated by pandemic conditions.  There’s a lot of uncertainty and worry in the hearts of many people surrounding work and their employment.

In the middle of all this we need to ask ourselves why we work in order to have some peace of mind and some sense of purpose going forward.  We won’t have time to look at it all but I was blessed again this morning as I looked at some of the things God’s Word tells us about work.  If we let God’s Word speak then I believe many pressures will be reduced in how we look at today and the future, our place in the workforce and our ability to provide the necessities of life for ourselves and our families. 

Work is God’s idea and so God’s efforts are going to be given to supporting us in the work God has called us to do. 

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 2:15, 1:28

We keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.  2 Thessalonians 1:11

We thank You God for the gift of work, the opportunity to express the creative talents and interests You have put inside each of us.  You’ve put a desire in all of us to care for You by caring for the earth and for others.  That’s the foundation of how we are meant to live.  We fall away from that so often with our fragmented view of our jobs, our employment paths, the obstacles to getting ahead with the money we want to earn and the influence we want to have.  This pandemic has shaken up many things, including the opportunity to work and continue the work we have been doing up until now. 

Today, whatever our work is, whether paid employment, volunteering, behind the scenes supporting of others, caring for family in our homes, whatever it is – we pray that we will see this day as one we live for You and work at what we do with all our hearts, knowing that You see us, Lord.  You have called us to serve You with our efforts.  You’ve done so much for us.  May our day and the efforts we bring to this day be a small loving response to Your great love for us.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

We pray also that we will keep Your priorities in mind as we work and that what we do and how we do even if it only seems to be a small piece in the call You have put on our lives to bring things together under Your rule in Your kingdom. 

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.  2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Give us a wider vision of what we are doing today whether we feel like we are in the centers of power or way out on the fringes somewhere.  We live for You.  You’ve given us work to do today and we can know and accomplish all that You have in mind for us today and experience the joy and satisfaction that comes from that. 

And so we set our hearts and minds to live in Your blessing so Your mighty power in us can work well and make a difference today in all that really matters. 

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21

I don’t know how the pandemic has impacted your paid employment, your volunteering, just your sense of place in the world, but I do know that God has not lost control of the wonderful purpose for which He created us and He will show us our way of fulfilling that today if we will come to Him with open hearts.