Work and Our Idols

So we've been going through this series, as you know, in looking at faith and work.

And we're in number five of six.

So next week is the finale.

But if you were to draw in a pie chart, okay, some of you who deal with pie charts can do this easier than others,

your life, and what took up not just the most of your time, but also your mental energy, your emotional energy, your physical energy,

how big a slice of that pie would be your work?

And remember, we've said work is anything that is not leisure.

How big a slice of that pie would be your work?

Because if you're like me, and if you're actually like what the majority of Hong Kong people seem to be like,

given that the number of working hours that we have in Hong Kong is the longest in the world,

and given that all of the recent debates about lowering the working hours,

have you been seeing some of the debates about trying to lower the working hours because people are so stressed,

and there's so much anxiety, and it's impacting so many families,

and all of this stuff that's going on,

then as a church we need to be thinking about,

and as individuals we need to be thinking about,

what is it that actually drives us to work the way we work?

Because even secular people are calling,

I read an article which said,

work is the new idolatry.

This was not a Christian article.

Work is idolatry.

And it's fascinating because we all kind of,

when I talk to people,

everybody knows they're working like too much.

Everybody knows there's a problem in Hong Kong, right?

But we don't seem to be able to do anything about it

because we keep continuing on the same treadmill.

We keep doing what we have always been doing, right?

And today, we're going to kind of look a little bit at what truly drives us to work.

We're going to be looking at the idols and how we make work too much.

We make it, it's a good thing, but we make it a God thing.

We make it so much bigger than what it should be in the way that God has set it up.

So by way of a little bit of a recap from where we've gone so far,

it's Iraq, somewhere before 2000 BC.

And men and women are fighting for survival in a restless, tough land.

Their mission had been to take over territory throughout the world,

working hard to fill it with beauty, with culture, with technology,

with communities which reflected the honor and the glory and the beauty

of their commander, God.

They were to worship him with their work

and to serve others through their work.

Remember, we've looked at that.

Work was good, but in an act of complete insanity,

they rebelled against their commander.

They went out by themselves into the world

without any assurance of his presence,

without his know-how, without his protection,

and they moved eastwards.

And they deliberately sought to avoid his detection.

Deliberately sought to avoid him.

And as a result of their rebellion, work had become tough.

Thorns and thistles had come up.

Remember, we talked about that a couple of weeks ago.

And what Bernard began to talk about last week was,

work was no longer kind of just black and white.

There was a grayness to it.

And in this gray of life,

God eventually raised up a group of people called the Israelites

who were called to be distinctive.

They were called to kind of go back to the original plan.

But instead, what had happened,

the land that they had been put in,

they were thrown out of.

They became exiles in another land called Babylon.

And it wasn't kind of obvious

how they were supposed to kind of act as God's people.

And so they had to navigate the challenges

and the difficulties that they faced every day

with reliance on their commander, God.

Now, we're going to go back in the story today.

We're going to go back about 1,500, 2,000 years

to that same place in Iraq where Babylon was.

We're going to go back before it became Babylon.

And we're going to go back to a time

where this group of original people,

they grouped together,

and they settled down on a plane

and they started the first startup.

Okay?

They invented a new technology.

It's kind of,

this was going to revolutionize the construction industry.

It was called the brick.

Okay?

They might even have called it the i-brick

or something in those days.

But they created the heat-fired brick

which set them light years ahead

of all the surrounding countries.

Stone was just so last millennium.

They were the brick guys.

And with this new technology,

there came new ambitions,

new opportunities,

new ventures.

And so they came up with a great business plan.

Let's build a city

with walls which is so strong

they can withstand invaders

and a tower so tall

that tourists will come and marvel at it

and marvel at their ingenuity

and how great

that even the gods of the heavens

would look at them and say,

wow,

these humans,

you know,

they're pretty cool.

And the interesting thing

in this story today

that we're looking at

is, well,

God certainly sits up

and takes notice of them.

And he notices a couple of things.

If you look in the verse,

it says,

verse 5,

and the Lord came down

to see the city

and the tower.

And then afterwards,

he then disperses them

throughout the land.

Two things that he does.

First thing,

he notices how puny

their little tower is

because it doesn't even reach up

to his window.

You know,

he's got to take a kind of heavenly lift

and he's got to come

all the way down

to go and see

this great thing

that they've built.

The second thing

that he notices

is that the plans

of their hearts

are such that

in their rebellion,

their desire

to just keep

making themselves great,

keep making themselves

look good

all the time

will only escalate

if he allows them

to continue

to work together.

So,

in verse 6,

he basically says,

okay,

these guys,

this is only the beginning

of what they're going to do.

Listen,

if this is their business plan now,

just imagine

if they get successful

at this one.

where they're going

to go next.

And so God,

when he sees their ambitions,

he shatters their dreams.

He confuses their language.

It's worse than going

to the tourist information

in a foreign country

where no one speaks English.

And no one can communicate

with each other.

And humans' attempt

at trying to make themselves

as great as they can

ends with God

spreading them

throughout the entire world,

just as he'd actually

asked them to do

right at the beginning.

Okay?

That's the story.

Babel is half built.

God is still God.

Humans look

little puny.

Now,

what does this story

that is told

over many,

many years

tell us

about work?

I think it asks us

two questions.

It says,

what are you doing

your work for?

What are you doing

your work for?

And second is,

what will give you

perspective

on how to work?

Okay?

What are you doing

your work for

and what will give you

perspective

on how to work?

So,

what are you doing

your work for?

They say to themselves,

come,

let us build ourselves

a city

and a tower

with its top

in the heavens.

And let us make

a name for ourselves

lest we be scattered

throughout the world.

You see,

on the outside,

the people at Babel,

they,

and what we'll call

them the babes,

okay?

Just for simplicity,

okay?

Because,

you know,

the bablers,

and I know there's

a Babel babble thing,

but it's Babel,

so we'll just stick

with that.

They,

on the outside,

they were simply

building a city

and a tower.

That's okay,

right?

God's not kind of

against towers.

He's not against cities,

okay?

And they're just

doing a job.

They're doing a good job.

They're actually doing

what God kind of

tells them to do,

build culture,

create,

do all these things.

So,

why does God

have a problem?

The problem doesn't

seem to be either

that the fact

that they're ambitious

because you remember

in the story

we looked at

a couple of weeks ago

about Joseph,

Joseph was ambitious.

So,

ambition isn't

the problem here.

The problem

is something else.

God has a problem

because what was

underneath

driving

their work

was something

other

than the worship

of God

and the glory

of his name.

You see,

there's a couple

of things

which drove them.

They were driven

by fear

and pride.

Fear

and pride.

And those

two drivers

were driving

them to work

and they were

driving them

to build

a tower

for themselves

which,

if you look

later in the language

of the Bible,

is called

idolatry.

When you set

something else

up to make

yourself glorious

instead of God.

You see,

what were they

fearing?

Well,

they feared

attack.

They were

vulnerable

because,

you know,

in those days,

cities were

protection.

They were

people around.

They feared

insecurity.

They feared

insignificance

because if you

scatter them

around the world,

they're just

going to be

small.

They're going

to be weak.

They're going

to be vulnerable.

And why

were they

like that?

Because they

come out

of their

relationship

with God

and because

they were

no longer

finding their

security in God.

They were

no longer

finding their

worth and

their significance

and their

security in God

and they were

like a street

kid,

scavenging,

looking through

the rubbish

heap for

anywhere,

anywhere to

find their

sense of

identity and

their worth.

And where

were they

beginning to

look for it?

Their significance

and their value,

they began to

look at it in

their work.

Because when

you have no

assurance that

anybody else is

going to provide

for you,

then you've

got to find

your significance

somewhere else.

for the

babes,

as for most

of us in

Hong Kong,

the rubbish

heap that we

often look to

find those

things that we

crave for

is work.

And that's

when the Bible

says work

becomes an

idol.

You see,

an idol is

a God

substitute,

something you

look to to

provide what

only God can

truly provide.

it's when you

make a good

thing,

like we said,

into a God

thing.

And I think

if I'm honest,

and I think

probably if most

of us are

honest,

the reason we

often turn our

work in Hong Kong

into an idol is

because we also

fear, right?

We fear

insignificance.

We fear

failure.

We fear

financial insecurity.

We fear what

other people are

going to say

about us.

I read an

interesting piece

in the New York

Times.

Donald Trump.

The piece was

about Donald

Trump,

and it said,

I think the

headline was

something like,

What Drives

Donald Trump?

And it said

in the article,

Ultimately,

Mr. Trump

fears more

than anything

else being

ignored,

overlooked,

or irrelevant.

Now,

for all the

different views

on him,

isn't that also

true of most

of us?

Isn't that

true of most

of us?

If you walk

along the

corridor,

don't we

fear like

someone turning

the other

way and

ignoring us?

Don't we

fear never

doing anything

that counts

in our lives?

Don't we

fear that

somehow we

will be

irrelevant,

insignificant?

significant?

I opened up

a kid's book

the other

day,

and I

read through

it,

and I

flicked

through,

and I

got to

the end,

and then I

looked at the

kind of blurb

about the

author,

and you know

what?

Suddenly,

it shocked me.

The author

was 10 years

old,

and then it

had like a

page and a

half of

their resume,

of all the

things that they'd

achieved,

all the accolades

that they'd

got in their

10 years,

and their

resume was

longer than

mine by

about five

times,

and as I

read it,

I suddenly

thought,

what have I

done in my

life?

Am I just

insignificant,

what I've

achieved?

She's 10

years old,

but don't we

just get like

that?

We fear

our lives

don't count,

but the flip

side of fear,

and it works

together,

there is also

pride.

You see,

pride is when

you have nothing

bigger than

yourself to

elevate.

You're the

one you

elevate,

because like

the babes,

you have to

make a name

for yourself.

They had to

get,

because of that

insignificance,

they had to

get recognition

for themselves.

They had to

justify who

they were.

They wanted

success so

everyone around

them could look

at them and

say,

you're cool,

you're good,

you're great,

I want to be

like you.

And to get

the things that

they craved

for,

they turned

to work

to get it.

And those

things,

there's approval,

success,

those are the

idols underneath

our work that

often drive so

much of what we

do.

I don't know,

have you ever

come out of a

meeting,

or even a

situation in

your work,

where everything

just went

perfectly?

You know,

it just,

I mean,

it was a

breeze.

You came out

and you just

knocked it out

of the park.

I mean,

it was amazing.

Like,

in my work,

I had a

situation,

a marriage

counseling

situation.

I went to

meet this

couple,

they're having

all kinds of

problems,

and I was

like,

God,

I just

don't know

what to

do.

It's like,

give me

words,

give me

wisdom.

I was

worried about

what I was

going to

say.

I go into

the situation

and suddenly

everything just

flowed.

Everything clicked

together.

By the end

of it,

they were

just kind

of reconciled

together.

Everyone was

like,

yeah,

we're going

to work

on a marriage.

It was

wonderful.

They texted

me later,

saying thank

you.

That was

so amazing.

And you

know what

was going

on in

my mind?

This kind

of little

live stream

kind of goes

through your

mind.

It goes

something like

this.

Hmm,

I'm pretty

good at

this.

I know

how to

do this.

Yeah.

I just

wish somebody

else would

kind of see

just how well

I'd done

that.

Maybe they

could kind

of soak

up a little

bit of the

wisdom that

I can impart.

And if it

happens again

and again,

whatever in your

industry it works

like,

if you're

successful and

you do it a

few times and

it keeps being

successful,

you begin to

start thinking,

hmm,

I deserve some

credit.

I know how

to do this.

I actually

don't really

need God

in this because

I'm pretty

well able

to do

his job

for him.

Right?

You see,

once you

become

successful,

your identity

becomes resting

in that and

you kind of

don't need

God

because you

think you're

okay by

yourself.

Maybe I

should write

a book and

tell everybody

else how

great they

should do it,

do it my

way.

But whenever

your success

becomes the

place where

your worth

is based,

that becomes

pride.

It's inflated

by pride.

C.S. Lewis has

this great quote,

he says,

pride is

essentially

competitive.

Pride gets no

pleasure out of

having something,

only out of

having more of

it than the

next man.

We say people

are proud of

being rich or

clever or good

looking, but

they're not.

They are

proud of

being richer,

cleverer or

better looking

than others.

Right?

Because when

you're successful

then what

happens, you

just compare

to everybody

else.

And you

either think

that you're

better or

you think

that you

are always

behind and

you've always

got to catch

up.

You know,

go to a

school reunion

or meet

with an

old colleague

and you

will see

how this

works.

Just you

notice your

reaction when

you find out

that somebody

else is doing

better than

you.

Right?

They got a

bigger bonus.

Their grades

were better.

They climbed up

the ladder

quicker than

you.

They are

getting more

recognition in

their field

than you.

How do you

respond?

Oh, praise

God.

I'm so grateful

that you got

that extra

bonus and I

didn't.

you see,

when we

think we

are less,

it raises

those fears

in us that

we're

insignificant,

but it

also causes

us to

start focusing

on ourselves

and think,

how can I

make myself

great?

How can I

make myself

better?

You know,

and in my

pride,

either success

goes to my

head or

success goes

to my heart,

it either

puffs me up

like a

balloon or

it deflates

me to the

point I'm a

popped balloon.

And that's

what it's like.

The babes

wanted their

tower to be

taller,

their city to

be stronger,

to have a

name,

which means a

name greater

than every

other.

But pride

leads to

idolatry and

it's grown in

the garden of

comparison.

And we do

it all the

time.

So what I'd

like you to

do is,

I have a

slide at the

back that I'd

like to

show.

When work

becomes the

place where

you're looking

for your

identity,

through success,

through approval,

for all these

other things,

other things

begin to

suffer.

What I'd like

you to do is

just take a

minute to

have a look.

There are

ten signs if

your work has

become an

idol.

I'd like you

just to look

through these.

I'll move this

out of the way.

And spend a

minute thinking

about, does any

of this apply

to me?

And after a few

seconds, they'll

move on to the

next one.

When in the

last two weeks

has this ever

been true of

me?

I'm

during

10.

Who

else

that céu

are

going to

Hakim?

Have

didn't

that thing

have

ever

become

firm赤

you log

in two

areas

are

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone?

Anyone's relevant?

I think I tick half of the boxes myself.

You see, I don't think there's a person in this room, and we could have had, there could have been a hundred more on there.

Okay, I just didn't want to go all day.

Okay.

But work is good.

But so often when we take it away from being what it's meant to be, which is an opportunity to serve and worship God, we make it God itself.

And we make it this God through which we try and find all these other things.

And then it actually ends up crushing us.

You see, what happens in the Babel story is God comes down, and their ambitions, he wipes their ambitions out.

And I don't know if you've had that in your life, when sometimes you've had a dream, an ambition, something you were chasing after, and God has just kind of, it just seems to be shattered.

If God would have scattered your work right now, if your career was to go up in the air, if your reputation was to go in tatters and you go in in the morning to work and no one wanted to talk to you,

if your workplace was to go up in the air, would you simply go and seek to build another tower, to build another job, to get what you really crave?

Or do you have something more significant, more strong, more foundational, which will last you whether your dreams are fulfilled or not?

Will you turn to find God?

That's the question.

Because here's the thing.

Sometimes God will kill your dreams because he's got an ambition that is greater for you.

Do you know what?

When the people of Babylon, of Babel, the Babes, when they, the tower was scattered, well, initially, the whole of their tower was just about themselves.

Right?

The whole of their world was shrunk down to like a little world of them.

Even though it looked great, it was all about them.

But God had a plan to make their lives global.

That's why he scatters them.

Because he wants to make a bigger impact than just about me.

And when I'm released and freed from work being about me, then I can be free to make work more significant about him and about others.

And the impact is far greater in God's eyes.

That's what do we do work for?

For him or for ourselves?

For getting something out of it.

Secondly, how do I get work in a right balance, in right perspective?

Now, there's a verse in Jeremiah which says,

Do not seek for great things for yourself.

Don't seek them.

Okay?

End of sermon.

Just stop making work an idol.

Get some work-life balance.

Okay?

Have a bit of God and you'll be fine.

Okay?

Okay?

Is that enough for you to go out tomorrow and suddenly I'm going to work for God?

Well, you may think, okay, yes.

But that's not the gospel.

That's not the gospel.

I was in court yesterday.

Fiona got admitted as a solicitor, as a lawyer.

And it was really fascinating because the judge was telling the junior lawyers who were about to be admitted,

he was telling them,

Stop working such long hours and get some work-life balance.

Okay?

The judge was telling them this.

Okay?

You know, that's quite, I mean, you don't hear that a lot.

I thought, wow, that's quite refreshing.

But the problem is, try it.

If you think work-life balance is going to be your goal, right?

Work-life balance is your goal.

You're going to get so frustrated because different elements of your life are always going to be in competition with each other.

And what will happen is, because there's always this tension in life.

Life isn't this kind of perfect balance.

You know, once you think you've found it, then suddenly your kids get sick.

Or your colleagues are off sick and you've got to then pick up all the work that they had to do.

Or a new project comes in and you're just up to your eyes again.

There's this kind of constant rollercoaster.

New demands, new circumstances.

Work-life balance, if it's your goal, you're always going to end up getting frustrated.

The Bible's solution isn't to kind of try and find this mystical balance that exists somewhere.

The Bible tells you to Sabbath.

And Sabbath means a number of things.

God works on six days and then he rests.

Okay?

We know that.

He ceases from his creative work.

But God actually is working all the time, you know, otherwise the world would collapse.

He sustains everything, through everything.

We're not God.

That's why we Sabbath.

God doesn't actually need to have a rest.

God doesn't need to have a rest.

He rests to show us our utter need for him and for rest.

Now, for some of us here, that's going to mean you actually have to turn off your phone.

You actually have to be physically present with your families.

You actually need to take time to stop and to rest and to Sabbath throughout your week.

I'm guilty of not sometimes, of trying to work through everything and not stopping because

I've just got to get this done.

I've just got to get these things.

One of the first steps for you may be to break an idol, maybe just to actually put some boundaries

to stop and say, I need to Sabbath.

But that's only a first step.

Hebrews 4 says this.

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has

also rested from his works as God did from his.

If you want to have work in right perspective, the New Testament says, Sabbath and rest doesn't

simply mean taking time off work.

It means taking time off the throne of your life and letting God be the throne of your life

because it says, whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did

from his. That means, what are we working under our work?

What are we actually working for?

We're working for approval.

We're working for success.

We're working to get greatness for ourselves.

But you're not going to replace an idol of work by simply stopping working.

Because what you'll probably do is you'll probably make an idol out of leisure or out of your Pokemon

Go or something like that.

Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What's he saying?

Fear always pushes you to faith in something.

Jesus says, let it push you to me.

When you feel afraid of being insignificant, let it push you to me.

Pride always inflates you by being comparing with someone else.

Someone else.

But why don't you let the comparison look upward to someone greater than yourself, which is Jesus?

Jesus.

I remember when I was a kid.

We went to this Christian camp.

And they had this song, which was from Hebrews 11, verse 6.

Hebrews 11:6

And it said, without faith, it's impossible to please God.

And they just sang it again and again until I was just kind of completely nuts.

But they missed out the rest of the verse.

Okay?

They missed out the rest of the verse.

The rest of the verse says this.

It says, without faith, it's impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Did you get that?

You must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

That's the basis of faith.

That's the basis of faith.

Interesting.

What faith starts with, it doesn't start, it's not some kind of mystical power that you've kind of got to work up in yourself.

Faith that overcomes the fears which drive us is about fixing your eyes on Jesus who says, come to me.

And it says, come every day to me in your work situations and trust me with whatever is going on with you daily.

In fact, your work situations, whatever is causing you to fear right now is an opportunity for you to fix your eyes and turn to him.

Did you get that?

You know, he rewards those who seek him.

You know, why do we not turn to God?

Because we actually don't think that he really is going to give us good things.

We think that in my work he's going to give me what I really want.

That's why we turn to idols.

I don't know if you've read, do you know Jimmy Kimmel?

He's got a show in the States.

And I watched this show where, it was a Christmas show.

And basically the title was, my parents gave me a bad Christmas gift.

Anyone seen that one?

So what he'd done on the show, he basically told all his audience who are parents, go and give the worst gift you can to your kids and film their reaction.

Okay, it's kind of a loving, nice thing to do.

So what he does, so these parents study kind of Christmas stocking.

They get the stocking out.

Kids are excited.

They open it up and it's like a raw potato.

Like another one opens it up and it's a raw, it's like a half-eaten sandwich.

And they're like, but I thought you loved me.

That, I think, is exactly how we view God in our lives.

The reason I go to all of my idols is because I think God's just going to give me a half-eaten sandwich.

I think he's just going to give me a raw potato for things, so I better come and get it myself.

Because I'm not going to get anything good from him.

Jesus, in Romans 8 it says, if Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, if he gave his own life for us,

isn't he, if he's given the biggest, greatest thing that he could possibly give,

don't you think he's actually going to, he's not going to be like stingy thinking, ooh.

I'm not going to help you in your work situation because, you know, you've been a bit bad recently.

He's not like that.

If he knew you at your worst and he died for you right there,

do you not think he's going to give you something so much better than a raw potato?

And in your work situations, day by day by day, it's a constant call.

Am I going to fear and then run to my idol, run to my work,

increasingly work and work and work to just find the success, find the significance,

find the approval, find the things that I want?

Or will I use that as an invitation to turn to my father who will provide everything good that I need,

who says, I exist and I will reward you with good things?

Friday, this week has been a crazy week for me.

Friday, I'm just doing the sermon, just typing it up.

My computer completely dies.

Like, dead.

Although, dead in the kind of way where it kind of, it looks at you long enough and says,

I might work, but don't hold your chances on it, you know.

That kind of way.

So I borrow another laptop.

And I'm finishing off the sermon.

And then I find that it won't print.

And the drivers to my computer are incompatible with this new computer.

So it wouldn't work.

It was later at night.

And the office community center, the printers are not working there.

It was too late to print for anywhere else.

And I'm beginning to think, oh, no, what's going on?

I can't believe it.

What's going to happen?

Am I just going to get up there and look like a prized plum?

You know, what are people going to think?

Am I ever going to get this done?

How is it going to happen?

I don't know where.

I don't know what.

I don't know what's going on.

I can't believe it.

Why did the community center not have the printer working yet?

Is that faith?

Now, what I discovered was after I kind of wallowed in this for a little while,

I then caught myself.

I caught myself and thought, what if God exists?

What if God is actually God, right?

He says he's God.

What if he's in this very moment, God?

That means he's in control of it.

That means he's also the father who says he'll provide everything I need.

That means he's the one who's sovereignly going to work through every single situation

for his glory.

What if he exists?

And what if he also will reward those who seek him?

What if he's the one who provides good things, not bad things?

What if I can trust him in this situation?

Do you know how it changed my perspective?

Suddenly, it was like, okay, I can live with this.

And then I got the idea, my dad has an iPad.

So I have this morning an iPad that I'm doing, not my notes.

You see, God provides.

In amazing ways.

But think about it for you this week.

What are you fearing this week?

What has got you wrapped up so much in your work?

What is running around your mind at night?

What keeps you up at night?

Have you ever considered this is an opportunity for you to run to God who says, come to me.

Come to me.

Start fixing your gaze on him and to trust him.

To not make yourself so pride-filled that I've got to...

Because you see, what I'm doing in those moments, I'm thinking, okay, here's the 15 ways I've got to fix the situation.

Because it all depends on me.

That's pride.

What if my reflex was to say, God, I need you, but I know you're good.

And I know you'll provide.

I trust you.

And however this works out, you're the one.

You're the one who runs through all of this.

To be great in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says, you've got to be small.

Small, that means it's not about me, it's about him.

And when it's about him, you know, the God who was the CEO of everything stepped down to the lowest pay scale and served you on the cross.

So that you might experience the rewards of his grace.

And the blessing of that relationship with him.

So whether you're in a low position, he went lower for you.

So this week, will you trust him?

You don't need work-life balance.

You need God balance.

And that will then help you to actually navigate the priorities, the circumstances that you face every day.

To have a clarity in your mind to trust him.

Let me pray.

Father, so much of life is lived building my own tower.

So much of life is lived making my own dreams.

Thinking that I can be successful.

That I can make a name for myself.

But so often that just leads to pride.

But also to a fear.

Because when my identity is in myself.

And in my accomplishments.

And in what other people think.

And what other people say.

And in my work.

Then so much more rides on it than should be riding on it.

I pray for each one of us.

Those of us who we know that we're just putting so much of our life into our work.

It's not just our bodies.

It's our minds.

It's our souls.

It's our very identity that is wrapped up.

And I pray that you would show us.

You've already given us an identity.

So that when we work.

We don't have to work up an identity.

We have significance in you.

So help us then to just work well.

Work with a desire.

To just serve you and honor you this week.

I know it's tricky.

I know it's challenging.

Please help us.

To see you day by day by day.

In Jesus name.

Amen.