“And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,”

Here in this verse we have the reinforcement of the sentiment to work hard as unto the Lord. If we have this attitude it will make our difficult work sweet and our labours a blessing to us. All things, as unto the Lord. It will then cease to matter who we work for or what they are like, for our eternal Father watches over us and knows what we can bear. He is moulding and making our character, and the circumstances of our life are His express interest and design. What family we are involved with and what job we do, are all under His choosing. Even the difficulties of life and the stresses and strains are under this jurisdiction. Nothing is outside His control, although we might think it is! The sovereignty of God interfaces all our life and will direct our footsteps to the end. We cannot make a mistake, for His guiding hand will keep us and sustain us as we learn our lessons and walk daily with Him. 

What if the manager or person in charge is unreliable? 

Our hearts do not change whoever is our director in this life. We do all for the glory of God and with a happy and joyful heart, no matter what the circumstances. Perhaps the people around us are untrustworthy, but we pray for them that they will be released from their bonds and find the liberty in Christ that we now have by the grace of God. None of us have any hope without the Lord and we should have some sympathy for those who oppress us, as they are also oppressing Christ and are therefore not in a good state in this world or in the judgment of God. This is impossible for us to feel unless the same Spirit of love is at work in our heart as is in the heart of Jesus. It is easy to be bitter, but we are not of that type. We pray for those who oppose us and put us down. God will deliver us from the grasp of the wicked at the right time and will bless our faithfulness and witness to them. 

“But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For  if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Matthew 5:44-48

If we enjoy good over us, we give thanks to God and do our work well so that all may see our good works and glorify God. To live and work in such a godly frame of mind is life and peace and we will live our lives in a perfect frame of mind, even as the Lord Jesus did. He is our pattern and our praise…