Relief

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” -Colossians 3:23-24

Today’s post is part of the wonderful Five Minute Friday tradition that I love so much. And, it’s actually Friday. The rules are, write for 5 minutes, no over-thinking, no editing. Just writing around the theme word. This week’s word:

Relief

Ready? GO

71 Days…I can do anything for 71 days, right?

71 Days. That’s what my graduation countdown says.

In 71 days, assuming all the paperwork goes through and the registrar’s office get’s my substitution form in the system, I will be graduating with my Masters’ in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in MFT and finally able to get a field job and gather hours towards my license.

Meanwhile, I’m working for a man who doesn’t like me and is ready to get rid of me. Not my immediate boss, but my boss’s boss.

And, now that I know for sure he’s ready to get rid of me, a piece of me dies each time I have to wake up and go to work. A job I used to thoroughly enjoy, I now dread on the days I know I have to interact with him.

I have no desire to keep doing a good job, because I don’t want to keep busting my butt for someone who doesn’t appreciate any of it, and in fact, completely ignores it.

But, today, as I was thinking of the dozen or so passive-aggressive ways I could end my short time left at this job – one not even really related to the career I am working towards. (Things I would encourage my clients to not do), God reminded me of these two verses.

He whispered them into my heart, reminding me who it really is that I continue to work hard for.

And, relief came with them.

Sure, it sucks that my boss has no respect for me or how hard I work. He doesn’t care that the parents love me and are going to be sad to see me go. He pays no attention to the fact that I am excellent at training new staff. And, he completely ignores that I go above and beyond my job description to make sure our work place is up to standard.

But, I don’t do all that for him.

Ultimately, I do all that for God. And the part of those verses I left out is the promise: “since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” (v24)

And, what a relief it is to remember Who I really work for.

So, tomorrow, I will wake up, remind myself of these verses, and go to work with a smile on my face, whether or not he is there.

And, should I get frustrated, I will also remind myself: 70 more days…

And, oh, what a relief it is.