One afternoon I had a phone call with one of the employees who was under the manager from the most previous article of this blog. I was shocked to find out the manager was no longer working there and that he had walked out one day and never came back. I was sad to hear this news but as always, I know God is working through all things. After a lengthy discussion on the phone about how everything was going and how the rest of the staff was getting along we said our goodbyes. I started to ponder what might have happened. In my last conversation with the now previous manager I could tell there was pressure but he felt confident it could be handled and I believed in him. Again, it was time to talk to God about what was happening.
As I prayed there were a couple of things that came to me. For one, the expectations were communicated to the previous manager but they were left to “figure it out” on their own”. We covered this in the previous article but communication of expectations and assistance with achieving those expectations is paramount. God does not set an expectation for us that He is not going to help us through so why would we leave people to themselves to achieve ours. Although this is a great point, this was not what I felt like God was showing me. In multiple conversations with staff there were several mentions of higher ups pushing them to close sales prior to actually finishing the job so that they could “meet their numbers”. I’m not going to lie, there have been many times in the past when I was tempted to do the same thing. The thrill of a good report showing a healthy profit always made the stress of everything feel a little better, even if it was a lie. I kept talking to God about this and he reminded me of something that is not always at the front of my mind.
You see those reports, while it may have “helped” this month, put pressure on next month that hadn’t even started yet. The team was already behind and hadn’t even started the race yet. What a disheartening event. Needless to say, morale was low and tensions were high. But why was this important to God? Why does God care about these reports and those actions? The reason God cares is because He detest inaccurate scales. Matter of fact, Proverbs 16:11 says,” The Lord demands accurate scales and balances; He sets the standard for fairness”. We can see Jesus confirm this as well in the books of the gospel, Luke 6:37 states,” Do not judge others and you will not be judged” sounds like a balanced scale to me. Luke 6:41 he continues,”Why worry about the spec in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own” again a balanced scale showing how God perceives judgment. These verses are very deep and penetrate on more than one topic but in light of our context we can see that double standards on how we live are not welcomed.
So why do we allow these things to take place and how do we stop it? As for the why, there are many reasons, too many to list in one article, but if this is occurring where you work it is time to bring this matter to God and let Him help you sort it out. I believe that one of the many reasons that managers and even owners do this is out of fear. Fear of losing their job, fear of losing their bonus that they so desperately want, fear of being reprimanded, fear of looking like a failure to others, the list goes on and on but the point is everyone has their own fear or multiple fears on why they do these things but it doesn’t make it ok. Fear is an attack from the enemy. He robs you from trusting God for protection and provision. He shifts your focus from what God is working through you to what man can do to you. Faith and trust must go hand and hand. I am not sitting here on my high horse telling you things I never suffer through even as a born again Christian. Even to this day I still have my struggles and as long as I am alive or until Christ returns I will continue building my wall of faith and trust in the Lord as these struggles occur. They may take time but things that are worth building do not appear overnight.
Some of you are thinking right now,” Sure, that might work where you work but it wont where I work” and that might be true…. But it also might not be. If you approach the situation delicately and not with boxing gloves it will get you a lot further. Proverbs 15:26 says,” Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words”. So pray for wisdom and pray for courage, the Lord cares about this and He will lead you through it even if the outcome is not what you expect.
What about those that are in a position to correct this matter? What if you are the one causing this to take place? Well it’s time to stop. If you are a person of faith (and I hope you are) this is an amazing opportunity to share God’s word and bring Him into the very fabric of your company. Take some time, prepare your words, pray for guidance, and trust God to direct you in your approach for handling this. It will take some work on your end, afterall you are unwinding something that has been most likely going on for some time. Trust will not be given until it is shown that this really is how we operate moving forward. After everyone has been looped in it must become part of who you are. God’s reigning word must be ingrained into the culture because hopefully your business will continue to grow and new people will come on board. When they do they will see and know that you are different because of the way you do things and it carries out through every aspect of your company. Your company can show God’s love and sovereignty without ever saying a word.
