40 Faces, 40 Places: A Devotional JourneySample

Jo from Sussex

Sometimes whole-life discipleship looks like doing the day job God has given you.

I work as a pharmacist in a busy NHS Hospital Trust. For many years, I’ve been a member of the Trust’s response to infection control, which has long included planning for a pandemic, should one ever occur!

Since Covid hit, I’ve continued seeking to bring peace, faith, and diligence to my work. At the pandemic’s start, I went from working part-time to full-time to support the greatly expanded ITU and Covid wards in my hospital and manage a team. I often pray to be able to make good decisions and convey something of the love of Jesus in all my work. I know my job matters to God, not just because of Covid, but because all work matters to Him.

There’ve been quite a few times where it has felt like God isn’t in the situation at work, and it is overwhelming. I felt God’s presence and an injection of energy to face the next crisis in those moments I've prayed for peace, insight, wisdom, or energy. I also did a course on workplace discipleship in my local church in 2019, and the teaching and reflections have been a key source of help and hope in this season.

As the pandemic goes on, I recognize God has called me to my work and the people I work with. My mission is the work I have prepared for many years to do.

Reflection

Some learning is for every day, and some are for rainy days. Jo’s story is an excellent reminder that we never know what good work God is preparing us for. One day you might find your skills and experience are what’s precisely needed where God has placed you, whether at work, home, or somewhere else – even if you didn’t realize you were picking them up along the way!

No job is ‘just a job’ when we offer our best to our Lord – when we seek to bring peace, faith, and diligence to our work, and when we make every effort to ‘live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work.’

Prayer

Lord, when those rainy days come, may I, like Jo, dare to step up into the role You’ve prepared for me, whatever it may look like. In Your strength, may I bear fruit in every good work day by day.