Making an impact where God has placed you

"You're to be like a pastor wherever God has placed you, doing His work for His glory and ministering to people." This is what my senior pastor regularly drums into us during his sermons. His other refrain is "We serve you so that you can serve out there in the marketplace."

His first comment left a very deep impression on me and has influenced me very heavily in how I seek to serve and honour God in my workplace.

First things first, I'm paid to work so excellence in work comes first. To be so distracted by doing God's work that my work quality suffers is to give a bad testimony of God. This is a first principle for me.

Second, I ask God to bring people to me whom I can help because I feel that that is a more sensitive way of ministering in the workplace, without attracting undue attention.

God has been faithful in providing me with opportunities to share my faith with or lend a listening ear to my colleagues, mainly through one-on-one lunches with them.

He has also literally opened a prayer door for me in the workplace. There is a meeting room which I feel God has sanctified for prayer. I've prayed for a few people in that room. A colleague told me that that room is not very well-used as a meeting room because it has no windows. I just thank God that He has made this room available for a much higher calling and purpose.

I will wait on the Lord for His timing in starting a prayer and worship group that will hold regular lunch-time sessions there.

Last, I've just finished reading Warren Wiersbe's On Being a Servant of God. I feel that this excerpt is a timely reminder for me, even as I seek to win lost souls and to minister to colleagues.

He wrote:
"Those of us who minister must put others ahead of ourselves, but we must put the Lord ahead of others... Of the three persons involved in ministry - the Lord, the minister and the person ministered to - the Lord must come first." (references - Exodus 28:1, 3, 4 and 41).

The ministry order is Christ first, others second, ourselves last.

When we focus on serving the Lord,

- we will be motivated to do our work and not look for excuses

- we will want to do our best

- the burden is light. Christ loves us, He knows all about us, He made us, He knows the future, and He gives me the power I need to serve him acceptably and fruitfully. When we fail, He forgives and helps us to start again. He never leaves us or forsakes us, and He rewards me graciously, though I don't deserve it.

- we stop watching other Christians and passing judgment on what they do or what God does with them.

Ministry isn't easy, but we make it more difficult for ourselves if we serve people instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can't please everybody, so don't even try. Just live and work in such a way that our Master will be able to say, "You are my beloved servant in whom I am well pleased."