Recently I was speaking to a colleague on work and he began to express to me the challenges he was facing with the leadership of the organization. On hearing his plight, I immediately looked for an opportunity to inject my thoughts into the conversation.

I shared with him a time when I myself was going through a difficult time in a previous job. It was so strenuous due to the ills of an unprofessional and unethical manager that one day I literally cried in my office at work. Yes, you heard right, a big man brought to tears on the job.

During those hell on earth days, I confided the injustice of the time to my then girlfriend Leslie-Ann who is now my wife. Then one day when the heat of this job was at volcanic proportions Leslie-Ann texted me the following scripture on my phone.

Colossians 3:22-25 “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons”

The messaged reached me when I was at my desk and if I said that I received this scripture well then this would be the lie of the century. I reclined in my chair and unbeknownst to Leslie-Ann I started to quarrel with my phone which was standing in for her to get the brunt of my displeasure.

Then after 15 minutes or so, I dismounted my high horse to allow a clearer head to prevail. After all, this wasn’t simple and ordinary words Leslie-Ann was sharing, on the contrary, she was attempting to inject me with the life-giving words of God and this is how I received it in the end.

From that day nearly 16 years ago my life was transformed. I started to approach my secular job as not reporting into an earthly man but directly into God Himself. So, although my bosses have changed many times since, in essence they haven’t, because my true boss is always the Lord. At the end of each day I ask in prayer, “Lord are you happy with how I have worked for you today?”

It is easy to work for a boss when they are a good leader, but how do you react when they are unethical, unprofessional, incompetent or even wicked? When faced with leadership characteristics as found in the latter it is easy to become negative, rebellious, disheartened and unproductive. But God doesn’t want us to fall into this rot which drains peace from our lives. On the contrary, He wants us to have peace and make peace (Matthew 5:9) and we obtain this by praying for those that despitefully use us (Luke 6:28) and also by loving our enemies (Matthew 5:44-48).

Now with new spiritual insight into how I should view my boss, I wholeheartedly applied the aforementioned and to the glory of God He gave me the victory. About 8 months after, God allowed me to get another job with an improved work environment, better working hours, and with double the salary 😊. Not only this, but sometime after I heard that the same boss who was giving me a difficult time was demoted two (2) levels lower, he is still working at the same company all these years and has never been repromoted since.

Recapping God’s victory for me and relating it in this blog is bringing so much joy in my spirit. Not only because it is a reminder to us that God fights for his children and always has our best interest at heart. But also because my suffering and learning at the time can now be shared to help encourage others.

My friends I know it is hard to apply some of the things I mentioned above, but subjecting yourself to God’s word works.  I have seen it work in the example above and many other times over the course of my career. God is debtor to no man, and when you give your all to Him, He will reciprocate and give His all to you.

You want to get the victory over your opponents? Then do it God’s way and “Beat them with your Best!”

Note: A good follow on scripture to read which shows God’s desire for us to respect and honour those in authority is Romans 13:1-7.

Your Brother in the Lord,

Dane Miller | Author

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