Reverence & Awe
"Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe." ~Hebrews 12:28 (NASB)
The Hebrews 12:28 of this scripture inserts the word, "worship" for "service." Indeed, our work is a form of worship and service, offered by gratitude, if we do it unto God from our hearts, demonstrating His love and devotion.
Since the Bible tells us that God first loved us and that His love is power, clearly there is no greater position to be in than walking in His awesome love, touching others and being awed by His manifest miraculous power moment by moment. In this, we honor God.
I never understood this revelation better than when I found the courage to trust God enough to surrender control to Him in my workplace. The first step was to totally confess all my fear, lack of trust and lack of faith. The truth was that I was terrified to let go of control. But I knew He was calling me to a new place spiritually, so I consciously chose to step out with the primary motive being not wanting to suffer the consequences of disobedience. In other words, my fear of God was greater than my irrational fear of man.
The Lord instructed me to spend more time in His presence at home praising Him, talking to Him, confessing to Him, reading His word and petitioning Him until I found peace in my heart. I often felt compelled to sing praises to Him, dance before Him and, my favorite, sit on the floor with Him and have coffee and chat. We spent intimate time together daily, often hours. I asked Him to fill my spirit with His love to overflowing. And I asked Him to give me divine appointments so that I could demonstrate His love to others in need. I asked Him to choose the people, the times and the places. Mind you, none of this was my idea. God instructed me to do so. All of it was new territory for me.
As He crossed my path with others' paths at work, I consciously chose to trust the Holy Spirit to reveal His purpose in what He wanted to accomplish. I chose to trust Him to lead me as to how to approach the person, what to say, how to say it, when to pray for them, what to pray for them. And as I stepped out, the Lord met me. What I witnessed shocked, awed and amazed me.
God opened my eyes to see that the people He sent to me were in need of a breakthrough and that when He allowed me to pray for them, they received whatever breakthrough blessing He wanted to give them at that appointed time. Oftentimes, the Holy Spirit healed them physically or emotionally, depending on their needs.
God's demonstrations of love, His power to heal and His sheer glory touched my heart so deeply that it caused me to weep and brought me to my knees in humble reverence. He made my heart grateful to participate. I realized there was no better place to be, and I desired more. The Lord increased the number of divine appointments for me to a point where I found myself crying out to Him to bring others to help. I simply couldn't keep up, which is a great place to be.
I believe divine appointments are ours for the asking and that meeting them invites a greater purpose and joy to our work. I believe it humbles our hearts and glorifies God. I believe it brings us into the Great Commission, which pleases God, and puts Him first in our workplaces, which offers us rewards of joy, favor and promotion.
If you would like to journey higher in your faith in God and at work, simply ask the Lord to show you how and to position you. He will require you to lay down fears and any other encumbrance as you choose to step into new territory. And He will journey with you the whole way. Truly, it is the greatest adventure.
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ. This devotional was adapted from Margaret's forthcoming book, Enduring Grace. All rights reserved.
