Issue 254
Whatever Christmas holds for you, it will almost certainly involve a whole lot of work. If you are in retail-related trades it will be your biggest season. If you are in education you may well have a series of extra events. In many areas people seem to see Christmas as a deadline by which targets should be reached. For home based people the burden of domestic catering may be approaching and already weighing heavily on your mind. For others the mere fact that a holiday period exists creates heightened demands.
So workload – a perennial issue anyway – now takes on a seasonal addition. It may be worth reminding yourself that workload has several components to it. Some workload issues centre on the sheer volume of work to be done. The amount of work or number of tasks seems too great to be achieved by the number of people involved and in the number of hours available. Solutions in an ideal world would involve more people or fewer tasks or both. The usual solution, however, is the same number of people, the same number of tasks, but working longer and longer days with exhaustion and illness the common outcome.
Another aspect of workload is the degree of difficulty. Sometimes work becomes so complex and problems so insoluble that you just don’t know what to do.
The third aspect of workload is a combination of the first two; too much work and too many problems combining to produce an apparently insurmountable problem.
What does Immanuel – “God with us” – mean in relation to your workload? You may tend to think that Immanuel is about Christmas carols and saving from sins – which it is – but “God with us” only makes sense if it means “with us” where we actually are. It doesn’t help you if God is not with you at work.
The same prophet who introduces Immanuel gives us more data – data which you can use to address your workload. First we are informed that the government will be on his shoulders. When you are weighed down with workload, demands, deadlines, targets, tasks and tyrants remember who is actually in charge. It’s not just a mental trick, but a spiritual insight and a way of life.
Secondly, you might like to download the fact that Immanuel brings with him the spirit of wisdom and understanding (Is 11:2). This spirit rests on him and he brings the same spirit to you. Wisdom is needed for decision making, choices, prioritising, managing and planning. Understanding is needed to become aware of implications, underlying issues and strategic solutions.
If you recognise who is in charge it is important to go to him and ask for help. The weight can be taken off your shoulders and you can receive resources to tackle your real problem. Immanuel means “God with you” and in your workload.
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Isaiah 11:1-3
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord — 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
Matthew 1:23
23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” —which means, “God with us.”
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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