Something happened today I wanted to write about in relation to living out my faith in the workplace. Work has been crazy as we continue to expand in various ways and I take on additional responsibility. As I am facing a couple of big deadlines I am working over this holiday weekend quite a bit. Last night I worked late on some analysis and I uncovered something of a skeleton in a closet... I was the only one who would have known about it... The facts I discovered implicate me as much as they do anyone else since this issue I uncovered is equally in my area as in other areas. These facts also implicate others. (the thing I found is something that has been left undone for quite awhile-- but its not like a scandal or anything)
I felt as if the information I uncovered / although not complementary was significant information that our leadership should be made aware of. What I mean is, if we can be doing better in a certain area, and leadership is not aware of an issue in a certain area- they should probably in at least most cases be given the information to review. Then, they have the information in order to make an informed decision. If I do not share information that could help them - then I am doing them and my company a dis-service- purely because I don't want to get in trouble.
My work life has been the biggest learning opportunity for my faith. The Lord has challenged me with scenarios like the one I described above many times in the past few years. He has been working to help me make, what I heard a minister once call a, "pre-made decision" in matters like these. If I run into information that is interesting or potentially useful and would have normally shared it with my management if I had nothing to be afraid of--- then I need to share it. So, during any one of these trials in business the Holy Spirit reminds me I am facing another one of these situations. He alerts me I have information my leadership might benefit from and alerts me that the only reason I am hesitating to share it is because I am afraid of the consequences. He then reminds me of the scriptural principal that the man of God should not be afraid of anything but should trust God and do the right thing. Based on this help I then (hopefully) make the difficult decision to go ahead, trust God under fire, and deliver the information.
One of these happened tonight - and as soon as I delivered the information I faced those typical mental questions, "Did I do the right thing" and "Was it stupid to expose myself like this" (these thoughts are probably the enemy by the way, at least in part). As these thoughts tortured me with worry I reminded the Lord in prayer that I did what I thought was the right thing and shared the information because I trusted him.
Tonight I put it like this to the Lord, "Lord, you have shown me that the man of God should not be afraid of anything. You have shown me I should trust in the Lord at all times and lean not on my own understanding. In light of this Lord, and out of an act of devotion to you I have made the difficult choice of sharing this information. So, I trust you to help me Lord."
Sales is a challenging though rewarding career and its full of ethical dilemmas- but all of us face situations in life that challenge us like this. We want to do the right thing but we are weak and afraid because we don't know what is going to happen. We really need help to do the right thing- at least I do oftentimes. Its interesting because in our hearts we know what the right thing is usually- often it is quite clear. But, we struggle because we can't see how we can avoid the very real consequences presenting themselves. Doing the right thing has a strange tendency to be coupled with situations offering risk. So, we can often see the right thing, we like the right thing best, but we are weak and afraid. So what can I/we do about this? The scripture is full of statements offering help from the Lord in these times if we trust him. One of them teaches us God is our "ever present help in time of trouble." One that spoke to me recently was Psalm 21:7 "For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved." And, my favorite chapter in the Bible speaks to this quite clearly as well. Here are a couple of sample verses from it - Psalm 37:3 "Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness." And another pertinent verse, Psalm 37:5-6 "Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday." And here is another verse I'll use to tie it all together as far as trusting God in business even when it could mean personal risk. Proverbs 28:1 "The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion."
Its good to speak of "committing our lives to God", "trusting God with our business" or "trusting God with XYZ -insert your topic", but when we are tested with a dilemna and we are afraid and have real risks if we choose to do what is right- this is the time we are challenged to exercise our faith with real action. This is the time in which, in spite of being afraid and in spite of the evidences we see with our eyes or understand with our personal judgment, we choose to trust God at his Word and do the right thing in spite of how we may feel.
The Lord will help me in this issue and throughout business and life- as I continue to put him first and trust him with ALL of the realities of life.
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