Issue 125
There is a phenomenon at work with which we are all familiar. It happens when you notice that the tools of your trade are not performing sufficiently well for you to achieve your aims. So a computer is too slow, too small in capacity or incapable of handling new software; a paintbrush leaves too many bristles on the surface, a blade no longer sharp or a photocopier reliable. It’s time for an upgrade, and although the word includes the idea of improvement (allegedly newer being better), it generally means replacement. As yet computers, paintbrushes, blades or photocopiers do not have feelings, so replacement is not threatening to them – but people do.
There are a lot of individuals in the workplace who are sensing that they are not what they were. If you find yourself in this position, you will probably be aware of the messages, not just in your mind, but in your environment. Managers, driven by the need for results, spot changes in performance and, like sharks, sometimes close in for the cull (otherwise known as restructuring). If your work is physically demanding, you may also be noticing how tired you get and your capacity is reducing. Other internal voices join in the chorus of disapproval and you may be asking what you have achieved and if it was worth it: “Did I make a difference or find my call?”
I would suggest that there are many thousands, if not millions, in today’s workforce who could be described as losing heart – simply because of the passage of time with the accompanying losses. Fearful of being replaced, yet feeling a little trapped, you join the unhappy band of pilgrims trying to maintain a foothold on the uneven surface of a career path. Younger, newer, faster, sharper models queue up in the interview rooms to tread where you have trod, before you’ve finished with your shoes.
But this is not God’s way;he is cleverer than that. Some enlightened employers have noticed that employing older, maturer staff brings a wealth than cannot be generated by the upgrade approach. They have stumbled upon a divine principle. For the person of faith, the passage of time has a twin dynamic: outward wasting away is accompanied by inner renewal. This dynamic is a daily refining, restoring, renewing which generates maturity, hope, wisdom and perseverance. It builds character and integrity and adds experience to enterprise. Paul wrote to the turbulent Corinthian Christians that this dynamic enabled them not to lose heart, not only on a day by day basis, but also because they had a certain hope that this twin dynamic would resolve in the ultimate raising up of even the physical body, which causes so many aches and pains now.
Your employer may not see this; your colleagues may not understand it, but you are being renewed every day and God is working not towards an upgrade or a replacement but a resurrection. You will still be you. Tell that to the voices in your mind and don’t lose heart – the passage of time is defined by where you are heading, not what you have lost. Worth remembering as you head to work.
2 Corinthians 4: 13-18
13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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