day 789: Times To Be Loud (redux)

"... But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil."


The Bible is clear with us that to be silent in many cases is the best course of action. But we also read that there are also times for being loud. Work is that way too. There are many times when the best thing we can do is to keep our mouth shut and let others do all of the talking. By keeping quiet, we don't get dragged into the muck or have ourselves lowered to levels that would compromise our values and principles. We have all been in the situations where the emotions are running high and someone says something that he/she regrets. Even after the apology, the problem is that people are slow to forget at work so stories are told and remembered and then passed along. If there is one place that is hard to put a reputation back in the bottle, it is at work. So, we have to be even that much more cognizant and controlled at work.

But there are also times to be loud. These are the times when we have to stand up for what is right and in the areas that compromise our values and principles. I feel for the people who have told me that they are sitting in jobs today because they are afraid or worried about getting up and moving somewhere else. They are staying in the jobs they have today even though where they work has become someplace that they no longer can trust or believe in the mission and how people are treated. God wants us to have courage to make the moves and get loud when we have to do so. This coming week we likely all hear or sing the song Silent Night. It is a beautiful song and lyrics that give us the peaceful moment when Jesus was born. But even then, Jesus knew that He was going to have to put that silent night and moment behind Him. We read in 1 John 3:8 this account of why Jesus came to the earth; "... But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil." Jesus knew that He was coming to fulfill not only the purpose of building up His Kingdom, but also to tear down the works of the devil. Tearing down and destroying means getting loud about some things! Part of our following of Jesus is to be sure that we are also doing our part to destroy the works of the devil. We do that by not taking the devil's side but by getting loud about what is right and living that life fully, courageously, boldly and unabashedly. As we finish this year, let's all feel good about getting loud about it!

Reference: 1 John 3:8

day 238: Silence Is Golden

Have you ever noticed how more finger pointing happens at work than maybe any other place other than an elementary playground. All day long, work conversations are filled with; "She didn't do it right", "He never got around to it", "He really dropped the ball on this one", "She didn't know what she was doing", yada, yada, yada. All day long the fingers come out and point and accusations are leveled against people. And, we all buy into it because it is such a normal course of action. It doesn't seem at all out of the ordinary to talk about someone when they are out of the room. I was recently in a Board meeting where you would have thought that every problem ever known to the organization was because of the performance of a recently departed executive. Some of it was true, but the rest was like when the CFO says we are going to need to take a financial charge this quarter, are there any other things we should be writing down or off? All of a sudden the spending that was the big idea last year, comes out of the woodwork to be written down or off as a failed expenditure, etc. And because, it's okay to take a write-off, we just lump it all in as fast as we can. That is what we end up doing with people as we pile-on and make accusations. It becomes natural to just fuel the fire. One day though those accusations come back to us and we are the ones who have to answer to others. How to handle those accusations is critical. I have watched too many people lose step in their careers, or throw away their careers because they don't realize that most of these accusations and words are meaningless in the bigger picture and to let them take us at of our game, or off our purpose, is exactly what others want, and what we must avoid. Jesus gave us the best example of this. At the moment He was being accused and persecuted, He chose to keep Himself lifted above all of it, and stay on His purpose. He did it with silence. We read in Matthew 27:12; "But when the leading priests, and other leaders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent." Jesus said nothing. He knew that their accusations against Him meant nothing in the bigger scheme of things and to have opened his mouth to argue or debate would have only been to lower Himself to their level and lose the high ground that He stood upon. The same is true with us. Today, the accusations that are so broadly thrown around in the office will come your way. The best reaction, may well be no reaction. Today, let us test the gold within silence.

Reference: Matthew 27:12 (New Living Testament)

day 76: Break Time

We all need break times at work. Most states legislate that anyone who is on the clock must take a morning break, a lunch/dinner break and an afternoon break. Even 10 minutes sometimes to sit and clear the head is a good thing. When I want to take a break I like to go outside and take a walk or just go somewhere where I can look out the window undisturbed for a few minutes. I often notice though, that even in those quiet times my mind does not slow down and while I may be quiet, I am not being still. There is a skill to being still. Being still means letting everything that is on your mind go, letting the pressure dissipate, shutting off the conversation that is running in your head, taking deep breaths to release the stress that has been building up all day long. If you can find a place of stillness then you can begin to find some peace. We are told in Psalm 46:10 to be still and silent and to know that God is God. If we want to maximize our break time and find the right mindset throughout the day, we can get there by finding the time to find stillness and silence in our minds and practice our thoughts towards knowing that God is there for us and that He is our Almighty who can do awesome things. We are in a hurry, we are in a rush, we don't slow down to listen, appreciate the moment, or catch our breath. But we need to do so. We need to find the stillness to know that He is God. So today, on that break time, see if you can find the silence and stillness. Take a few moments today to get in that state of mind and bask in the knowledge of God. Don't worry, the world won't fall apart if you add these precious still minutes to your day. Instead you may find that the day comes back together and you work the rest of the day in a new spirit. That being and example of the spirit that others want for their lives.

Reference: Psalm 46:10 (New Living Testament)