Looking back over my life, I was very fortunate to have good jobs and good working conditions. Everywhere I worked, I worked like it was my own business.

Even on the farms where I farmed, I worked as if it were my farm. There was never a clock-in or clock-out time for me. If we had to work through the night, I was leading the way, and the rest followed with flashlights.

But right at the beginning of my working life, it wasn’t like that. I worked under someone who was not a nice person. The harder I worked, the more I was insulted.

Later you realise that the boss is suffering from some kind of inferiority complex and that you are paying for his failures. Everything that goes wrong is your fault. I was under a lot of pressure, and, eventually, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

¹⁸You who are servants, be good servants to your masters—not just to good masters, but also to bad ones. What counts is that you put up with it for God’s sake when you’re treated badly for no good reason.

When one works in pleasant conditions, it’s easy to carry out assignments. When your employer notices your hard work and rewards you, you want to work harder and give your best.

The challenge comes when the circumstances are not so good. When the boss treats you unfairly or just doesn’t notice your hard work. Or even if there is a toxic atmosphere and everyone is treading carefully.

Then it’s not so easy to let your light shine. Nowadays, you are simply forbidden to make your status as a Christian known and you are not even allowed to turn on your light. Then it’s not easy to go to work with a positive mindset every morning.

Yet we Christians are expected to be good workers in all circumstances and to treat even the people who treat us badly with respect.

Lina (not her real name) tells of how she worked for 23 years under a boss who gave everyone hell:

I started praying for him after two years, because I was so afraid of him that I couldn’t even give him his messages. It took some time, but he did change.

From being bombastic, cursing, and being rude to people every day, he changed over time. He started talking to me about deeper things and he also allowed me to point out where he acted wrongly.

In the past four years, he even started going to church, but I was not allowed to tell anyone.

If you’re having a hard time at work, God may want to use you there. Even if it gets rough, be a good worker and pray that God will use your testimony to change others.

Scripture
1 Peter 2:18-20

Reflection
What bothers you at work?
Where do you have to act differently?
Who do you have to pray for?

Prayer
Father, it’s not always easy to be Your child. Help me, please, and give me the strength and courage to let Your light shine at all times in the dark circumstances around me. I ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.