In the past few days I've been getting the sense that the new developments and circumstances around me are happening as part of God's will (aren't they always?).
I am getting the sense that He is re-arranging the direction of my aim to please.
I know that the proper way to approach work or anything we do is to dedicate all our work to God. The Bible says if we do so, our plans will succeed. I know that I attempt to carry myself that way. The problem is that I end up treating God like some sort of consultant instead.
The shocking realization for me as of late is that I've been invoking God to help me with my work so that I may impress those around me, especially authority figures such as my CEO, venture capitalists, etc. I end up aiming to please those human authority figures when there is only one TRUE authority figure to please: God.
I would do my work, and then end up yearning for praise from the humans around me. If I work later into the night and complete a deliverable before I go to bed, the very first thing on my mind when I wake up the next morning is to check email to see if I got any compliments on the work I did. If I get validation, then I view my work as good. If I don't get any positive validation, I end up feeling insecure, defensive, and displeased with myself.
I would end up gauging the quality of my work by how human beings around me react to it. What I fail to recognize is that if I truly dedicated my work to God, and if He helped me do the work in the first place, that should be all the reward and recognition that I could ever need. In fact, partnering with God to produce God-inspired work is the ultimate form of worship.
Unfortunately, I notice I don't deem my work good enough until it has been validated as such by human authority figures around me. I end up aiming to please those humans instead of God. And as a result, I suffer the consequences by way of insecurity and anxiety.
I think God has put me in circumstances recently to help me fix this fundamental and critical problem. He wants me to shed my old ways and start truly fixing my gaze upon Him.
Aim in the right direction.
It will liberate me from enslavement to the viscious cycle of contantly seeking approval from those around me.
I can't wait to taste such freedom.
1 comment:
Very good insights! Approval from another person only lasts for a finite amount of time. Approval from God lasts forever. I like the last sentence... freedom is exactly what Jesus has given us by what He did on the cross.
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