Laying Down Your Rights

As I've said in previous posts, if you belong to Jesus, you have no rights. We should be daily dying to our rights. It is selfish desire to want to hang on to them. Jesus paid such a high price for us, and it is Him alone who has the right to decide for our lives. Any and every single time we stand up for our own rights, we hurt the name of Christ! And I did it again.
I've worked at FedEx for almost 26 years. I have worked in the aircraft parts department for the last several years. It's true that God has done a radical change in my life since getting saved in 2003. I am truly not the same person, praise be to God! But some of His lessons come quicker and easier for me than others. Standing up for my rights at work has been one of those painful, ongoing lessons. Painful for the most part, not because I don't want to lay down my rights, but because I am so grieved at how often I still fail. Although, I have come such a long way that I don't even recognize myself anymore. I used to demand my rights constantly. Now, it is only on occasion that the "rights" side of me shows it's sinful, ugly head. If you are in the workforce, then you will be faced, at times, with giving up your rights. The wicked world doesn't manage business the way a child of God would. They don't make decisions from the same heart, or with the same wisdom as one filled with the Holy Spirit. Are you willing to be a doormat in your workplace? Are you willing to get a workload put on you when you are already doing more than your share? Are you willing to be misused and taken advantage of? The bible says we should be willing to endure whatever comes our way and do it with all of our might. (Ecclesiastes 9:10) What if you are already doing your job with all your might? You see some of your coworkers getting by with doing nothing, day after day and year after year. And yet more is expected of you for the simple reason that you are dependable and a hard worker. How should you react when more is put on you and your coworker is getting a paycheck each week for doing nothing? If this happens to you all the time, you may tend to become disheartened. But the bible tells us we should do all our work as unto the Lord. For it is the Lord that we serve! (Colossians 3:22-24, Ephesians 6:5-8) Boy, it's tough. You may work in a place where you have endured hardship and unfair treatment for years. Maybe what you are being asked to take on is unfair. If you logic it out, it makes no sense at all to be asked or expected to work as you're being directed. Your common sense and what the world considers to be fair is what you really want. But what is "fairness" for the child of God? Don't you know that when you are asked to do something that is unfair at your job, that you are given the perfect opportunity to show the love of Christ? Are there those at work who know you are a Christian? Then they are constantly watching you to see how you work and how you react to what is asked or demanded of you. And yes, you could speak up and point out how unfair it is. And your boss could go along with you and you could get out of it, because after all, it's only "fair". It could be that your boss picks someone else to do that job because it really wasn't your turn, or they have been getting away with doing nothing and it's about time they had to do a little something. Do you think you will walk away feeling satisfied, justified? I'm here to tell you that you won't. If you are a true child of God, you will regret it. No matter how "right" you were to speak up for yourself and point out why you shouldn't have to be the one stepping up to the plate, YET AGAIN! Just do it, again and again and again. And do it with all joy. It will astound them. It will confuse them and amaze them. They will be perplexed. And someone, someday, will ask God how it can be so. I LOVE Matthew 5:16 which says, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." WOW! That's it. If you just do it, every time, no matter what, and do it praising God all the while, then there will come a day when someone finally turns towards this God that you serve. Someone will want to know the Jesus that gives you the strength to endure unfair treatment, and with pure JOY on your face. If you fight for your rights in your workplace, all you get are your rights! If you lay down your rights and trust Jesus in whatever happens to you at work, then JESUS gets all the glory! Don't you know that if you belong to Him, that nothing happens in your life outside of His sovereign will? If He allows you to be mistreated at work, then He has a plan for it. If He didn't want it to happen to you, then nobody on earth would have the power to mistreat you. So if God allows it, then you have to look at it as coming from His hands, not your boss's or coworker's. And if God is allowing it, then He is bringing about someone's salvation, or someone's growth in the Lord, and bringing all things for His glory and your good. (Romans 8:28) Maybe He is teaching you a lesson in humility, or patience, or any number of other things. But you can always trust that it is for your good. He wants you to keep your mouth shut and work with all your might. If you do open your mouth, it should be with all joy, singing and praising God.

Now, I have just written every bit of this for myself, because even after more than 6years of salvation, I still fail. I failed last Thursday night. Before I was saved, I used to blow up at unfair treatment. Everyone knew not to make me mad. Unfairness drove me crazy. Lazy people make me crazy. There are so many people that take a paycheck home every week that they NEVER earn. I consider it stealing because they are taking what doesn't belong to them, what they haven't earned. They are supposed to be working for that money. I work, FedEx pays me. But so many don't work, and FedEx still pays them. It makes me crazy. But standing up for my rights when I have another straw added to my back only hurts the name of Jesus. And by the way, if Jesus allows more work to be put on you at your job, then won't He supply you with the strength to carry it out? Of course! And won't He supply you with the grace to fulfill that duty with all joy? Yes! Grace and strength are available in abundance if you will only ask!

I've written this entire post to myself. I am sick to death of my rights! I am sick to death of my sin! I want to glorify my King in EVERYTHING! Can you relate?