Issue 255
Inside you there is a warning system – a meter if you like – which responds to many cues. One thing it detects is fairness, or perhaps more accurately, unfairness. It seems that there is a part of your conscience which sounds an alarm or lights a light when something is not fair. This signal tends to go off most quickly when the unfairness is done to you, but it also detects unfair treatment of others.
The workplace is a stage where many dramas are played out, but one regular storyline is that of injustice. Women are routinely paid less for equivalent hours. Discrimination on the wrong grounds is a regular occurrence. Bullying is now a pandemic and even taking credit for someone else’s work is on the rise. Many petty, unfair moments go unchallenged but there are times when you feel the unfairness catching up with you and even overwhelming you.
Before we get too pessimistic or subversive, many employers are more than fair to their employees, seeking to create favourable terms,conditions and support. Sometimes it’s employees who are unfair: not doing a good job, breaking their word or sometimes being downright dishonest. Many is the manager who has had to deal with the frustration of disreputable staff.
I don’t need to remind you of competitors, clients or customers who sometimes make unreasonable demands or use sharp practices. At Christmas, when the pace hots up the temperature on the unfairness thermometer can also rise. What does “God with us” – Immanuel – mean in your unfairness? The Son of Christmas came to rule with justice and righteousness bringing in a regime which will establish and maintain such characteristics. If you are a member of this regime then whatever you currently experience, sooner or later, complete justice is coming your way. This is a truth to take with you everyday – however ripped off you have been, it will not go uncorrected. This may seem like a mind game but it will also have a real impact on your anger and therefore on your stress. By all means work for justice and fairness but when you suffer injustice and unfairness that you simply cannot fix, rest on your certain hopes.
We are also told that Immanuel brings with him the Spirit of counsel and power. You definitely need counselling when you are abused; it digs into your soul and leaves a gash. Counselling helps you gain deep insight and restructure your thinking, feeling and actions to find good and healthy responses.
You certainly need power: the power that heals and the power that stands firm, as well as the power that overcomes and in a right way fights back.
If Immanuel means “God with us”, it includes being with us at work and it includes dealing with injustice. His counsel not only brings you healing but the ability to dispense fairness and justice as you travel your career path. God is with you – that is fair enough.
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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Geoff Shattock
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