"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3) When I was a little girl, my favorite place to sit was on my little wooden rocking chair. Whenever I sat down, I would move over as far as possible to leave some space beside me. I had been taught God is always with me, and in my childhood faith, I took this knowledge seriously, and literally. I moved over so God would have enough room to sit beside me. As adults, I wonder how often we are consciously aware that God is right beside us and we can "move over" to make room for Him? What would our workday look like if we acknowledged and remembered His constant presence by giving Him room in our hearts, lives, offices and boardrooms? It could include: ✔️Remembering during our day that He is with us and having peace and calm no matter what the situation ✔️Letting go of some of our impulses and allowing God to guide us ✔️Moving past disappointments and acknowledging God has a better plan for us ✔️Seeking His Word and allowing His love to flow through us to others ✔️Being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger more often ✔️Taking time to make wise decisions that value others What is one thing you can start doing to regularly remember God is with you during your day?
Consider actually having a chair in your office to serve as a reminder to you! A business woman I know told me her corporation keeps a red chair in their boardroom, and this chair visually reminds them of their customers. Therefore, any decisions they make were always made with the thought of their customers being in the room.
What if you had a reminder that the comments you make, how you treat others, or your decisions making are always based on God being in the room? He is always there: we just need to be mindful of His presence and allow it to impact our thoughts, speech, action and reactions.
I hope you enjoy the story which follows as you consider what you can do to be more constantly aware of God's presence.
The Empty Chair: Inspirational Christian Story
A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.
"I guess you were expecting me," he said.
"No, who are you?"
"I'm the new associate at your local church," the pastor replied.
"When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"
Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.
"I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man.
"But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head."
"I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here's what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because He promised, 'I'll be with you always.' Then just speak to Him and listen in the same way you're doing with me right now."
"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.
"Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked.
"Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, in fact, beyond strange - kinda weird.
Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."
-Author Unknown
May God richly bless you as you become more and more aware of His presence, every day, at work.
Have a great week!
Bonny, Christian Women at Work
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