Work

So my work is alright. My job title is Desktop Support Specialist. Thankfully I am lucky in the fact that my job title explains very little of what I actually do. Essentially a Desktop Support Specialist sits at a desk taking second and third level help desk calls; proceeds to get up from the desk when moves and jobs which require a presence are sent through and then continues the rest of the day sitting at said desk.

Thankfully, even though much of my work is at my desk, it is great. I am given the opportunity at the place I currently work at to sit at my desk and develop programs, web sites; look into new technology, chat with my co-workers and pretty much do anything. I am blessed.

So I have been working with PDF’s a lot recently. In particular a site that pretty much has a few drop-down menus that have folder names. The site picks up the folder names each time a value is changed in the previous drop-down list. It works really well except all the data is on an external drive (don’t worry too much, it’s running on a gigabyte link) in the office. The site walks flawlessly except for the fact that if there are heaps of users on it it runs a little slow.

Now the other day there were some complaints about the speed. This got me thinking down a few avenues of thought as I tend to do. First thought was “How dare they. I have been slaving over making this page for months and it is great. It has better features, better functionality and is just plain better… how dare they.” Now this probably sounds valid. But is it really? I mean if the product/service doesn’t work well then why would someone use it. Just as in this situation, how am I going to know there is a problem unless people tell me.

Unfortunately my boss sent an email out before letting me know that there was a problem. (All fine though. All got sorted) This however got me even more angry. The remainder of the afternoon I sat at my desk filling with more and more rage and anger towards everyone.

Now first problem is that there was a problem. Second problem was the way I handled the problem.

I have been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Cost of Discipleship” over the past few weeks. This book is amazing. It talks a lot about obedience to Jesus and the love of Jesus. It’s a really great book and I have been enjoying it’s many many challenges. One thing that was getting to me in this current situation was that I was feeling rage and in turn revenge. Bonhoeffer writes a lot about the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8) talking about revenge and it got me thinking about Jesus and what He suffered on the cross. That He was put through all that shame and pain but He didn’t open His mouth against His persecutors. What amazing patience and love. I had people who were saying things that weren’t even directly against me but He had people spit on His face and yell abuse at Him. How things are put into the correct perspective when Jesus is in the centre.

Obedience is important. Love is important. Even in my job where, when I think about it, I spend the most time in my week, I have to be so careful. We are called to be above reproach. To be obedient to Jesus and to follow His example. To ask for help and strength from the Father. This is not small key stuff.

I also thought, imagine I went to work burning with rage and did something crazy like punch someone in the face. Not only would I get fired and be charged with assault, but the people I work with know that I am a Christian. I tell them because it is important for them to know. If they see me do that, how does that make Jesus look. How is that showing the amazing change Jesus has made in my life. How is that making Jesus look. WE ARE TO BE ABOVE REPROACH!! That is the old man. The man that has been changed. Human emotion’s are tough because they are us. They are our nature and our being. But God has given us the Holy Spirit who is able to give us self control. How great is our God to give us Himself to help us in our walks.

So God is good. Work is good. The past few days have given me great insight to how and why I care so much about what other people think. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to fold like a piece of paper everytime someone says something bad or nasty; that is just sad. But, I will pray hard for the strength to know what is wise and obedient in the context of the world.

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