Day 25: Trusting God in Your Workplace

In my previous messages, we have studied God’s promise to guide us and to make our paths straight. In this context, let us look at a specific problem that confronts particularly those who are in places of employment, those who are employees: 'How to find acceptance in a work situation.'

Most committed Christians who seek to lead lives of righteousness that glorify their Lord experience some degree of strain or tension in situations where they have to work with or under people who are not believers and who may be actually hostile to the Christian faith. In some cases, in such a situation, there is actual opposition or even persecution.

Does the Bible have any guidance for Christians who find themselves in such a situation? I believe that it does. I say this on the basis of my own experience in such situations.

For our first promise, we are going to turn to what I would call a negative promise, a promise that promises something that we actually wouldn't choose if we had the choice. Nevertheless, it is part of the total promises of God's Word, and we have to give heed to it. 2 Timothy 3:12 says this:

"And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (NASB)

That is a promise. You might say, "Well, it is not a very pleasant promise," but it is part of our total inheritance.

Remember, our inheritance refers to all the promises of God, both the ones we would like and the ones we wouldn't like. But it is important to understand that they all go together; that we cannot separate one from another and say, "Well, I like the pleasant promises, but I don't like the unpleasant." It is very important to see this because when we are in a situation where we are genuinely living godly, and we are persecuted for it, it is comforting to know that it is part of our inheritance. God has made provision for it; He understands it; there is nothing going wrong; we are not out of the will of God necessarily, but it just goes with being a Christian.

So, in what I'm going to say to you today, I'm not promising you that you will never be persecuted. In fact, on the basis of clear Scripture, I can promise you that if you will really live a godly life in Christ Jesus, there will be times when you will be persecuted for it. Nevertheless, I believe God has certain answers to such a situation and that God can work it out, both for His glory and for our good.