Staying Grounded: Navigating Your Faith and Your Self in Challenging Work Environments

The state of the world we live in requires and mandates us to work, it doesn't matter the field you're in. Everyone is required to work in order to make a living and provide for themselves and their families. And because this is part of how we operate as a society we also need to have some sort of understanding of how we manage and maintain our identity as Children of God and our faith as believers in Christ -- especially in difficult work environments.

Faith-Fueled Resilience at Work

Now, whether you work in corporate, retail, food services, remotely, or you are an entrepreneur, you are always going to encounter someone or something that's going to challenge you. As much as we may not want to have these experiences, it's part of our growth - and two ways to look at it from a biblical standpoint are:

1. What the enemy intends for evil in your life, God will turn it around

   
   

   "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Genesis 50:20

   
   

   For context, Joseph is the one speaking here. If we know anything about Joseph's story, it's that he was given the short end of the stick multiple times. Despite being abandoned by his brothers, sold into slavery, and falsely accused of sexual assault, God didn't allow his end to be in disgrace. Instead, he became the governor of Egypt, appointed by the King, who gave Joseph the right to make decisions over the territory. What makes this context so valid for managing ourselves, our faith, and difficult work environments is that through it all, Joseph remained grounded, true to himself, and didn't forget that God was with him.

   
   

2. God will always work things together for the good of those that love Him, and diligently seek Him

   
   

   "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

The context here is that Paul wanted to leave the Roman church with an understanding of what comes with living a life in Christ. In this particular section, he expresses that our current sufferings are for a greater future glory. While this is obviously specific to our life in the spirit on earth and our life once we get to heaven, scripture makes us understand that these truths should be considered as the truths we abide in as children of Christ on earth. We should live the kingdom way on earth as we wait for the kingdom come. So, if we're subject to a job despite us wishing that we could make money freely at our own pace on our own time, we know this isn't really an option even for the richest man because money still has to be managed and multiplied. So how do we make it through the difficulties and challenges? We trust that God, who has called us according to His purpose, will strengthen us, help us, and direct us.

In both of these cases, there is some practicality that we need to unpack, which is the key to applying this to your situation. The key is to proactively decide to block out the noise and focus on God. Turn to prayer and the Word to help you navigate your emotions and communication.

The enemy would rather knock you out of your right standing than to let you hold on to the hope that this inconvenience in the workplace or in any life situation is but for a moment. But these two scriptures remind us that what God wants for us will come to us as long as we’re willing to engage Him. This will help you in navigating faith and self in challenging work environments.