Lessons from my workplace: The Daily Grind of Work

I have been serving my national service since 06 January 2006. Life in NS has been a roller coaster ride since, with lots of ups and downs. I have been thankful from posting out of combat to work in a medical centre as a service medic. I thought that life would be perfect. I could book out every single day, work in an air-conditioned environment and do what I always dreamt of: being a medic to save lives and serve others. To be a medic to me was like the best vocation any enlistee could get. Instead of training to take lives, I am trained to preserve one.But life wasn’t exactly perfect as I thought it would be. There were many other troubles and problems that arose within the medical centre. These were not simple problems that could be solved within a short span of time, but rather they were in-built problems in the system itself. They have given many nights of un-peaceful sleep, mental stress and unrest within me.Firstly, being conscripted into the service, inevitably, most of my colleagues didn’t had any motivation to work hard like any other worker would in the corporate world. Even though my medical centre ran like a private clinic, most of the staff were never committed to the things they were assigned to do. Most had the attitude and mindset of doing the very bare minimal to please their superiors and stay out of trouble.

There were a minority who decided to work hard and do slightly more than they were required. They did all tasks assigned to them well enough to please their superiors in order to earn rewards like day offs. Their superiors, knowing their working capabilities, gave them a greater workload, so as to get more jobs well done. Knowingly, these minorities placed themselves in this precarious position. But they didn’t mind due to the rewards.

These were the two wise paths one could take to survive national service. Of course there were those who chose not to do anything well and exposed themselves frequently to punishment.

I chose the second path. I performed my duties well to show my capability. I wanted to do my work to the best of my abilities so that I could even be better than those who tried to work hard. I wanted my superior to know that I am the best and the most hardworking medic around and I deserved the most days off.

However, things did not turn out like I wished it would.

Yes, I did work hard, in fact, very hard. I got the same number of off days as the rest. I was given 3 appointments instead of one and it became impossible to cope well. As a result, I was the most prone to committing errors, mostly unintentionally. My colleagues in all my departments let me do most of the work so that they could slack. The little portion that they were to do were not done well such that I had to bear their punishment along with them.

Life was miserable. I fell sick a couple of days as a result of the heavy workload, but had no rest as my work piled up and I had to complete them when I returned. I felt my burdens so heavy. My body was wasting away. I could no longer smile with true peace in my heart. Everyday was work and more work. I was going to be trapped in this cycle till the last day of my national service.

I read my bible to find solace in these pressing times. I read Philippians 2:14 -” Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” But I felt it too difficult to work out this verse. How was I to do all things without grumbling or disputing? It felt as if God did not understand my situation at all. Everyday, I am pushed to my very limits of my physical strength. Everyday, I do every thing to my very best. You do not understand what I’m going through. I am already different from the rest. What more do you want, God?

But I thanked God for revealing what he wants from me. And that gave me the true release of my predicament.

This was the verse God used to teach me his ways:

Colossians 3:22-24 -”Slaves, in all things obey whose who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

This verse showed me that what I have been doing thus far was not pleasing to God. Yes, I have worked hard, but working hard doesn’t mean pleasing God. I was giving my 100% in all I was doing even though I need not. Yes, this made me different from others. I was better than the others because I put in more effort though not required because it made no difference not to work hard. But in God’s eyes, I was no different.

He showed me that I was pleasing men instead of God. I was working in order to show my superiors to get more day offs. I was upset because I wasn’t given any for my hard work. I learned that to work just to be seen is just to please men. Hence, my working hard for the wrong reason was useless and it was not bringing glory to God.

How I should work would be with sincerity of heart, with one single focus - fearing the Lord. My motivation in work must be to bring honour and glory to God. I thank God that he is my true employer in heaven. He is who I truly work for. Only then I can work heartily, without grumbling or disputing.

After knowing this, I thank God for shifting my focus from working for offs and pride to working unto him for a reward in heaven.

Matthew 6:1 - “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

Not I But Christ

Galatians 2:20-”I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me , and gave Himself up for me.”

This is my first blog entry here. I have been thinking of what I should write. Finally, I decide on writing about something that has impacted me so tremendously recently-an ordinary book named “THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE”, written by Watchman Nee.

This book has been with my family for years, kept in the bookshelf. I took it out not long ago. Its pages were torn and tatterred. The cover was breaking apart. But apart from the book’s terrible appearance, a quote on the front cover caught my attention. It says:

Which means: It is no longer I but Christ

It was interesting as this quote is place beside the title ‘The normal christian life’, implying that the two goes hand-in-hand. I began to read the book. Indeed, in the first page, the author states that this is how Paul summarised the normal christian life. The normal christian life is Galatians 2:20: It is no longer I but Christ.

This words struck me hard that I have been pondering over this for a long time. We look at us christians today. What is our normal christian life? On weekends, it is going to church, singing worship songs, listening to sermons, participating in church activities and outings and on weekdays, it is reading a short chapter in the bible daily or perhaps weekly or even monthly, whispering a short little prayer before meals or before we go to bed. This is our normal christian life that we live.

One question popped up in my head: “Are we normal christians?”

Yes, I said initially. Of course I’m normal. This is almost what every single christian I believe is doing. How abnormal could this be? We are all christians. If we aren’t christians, who are?

Then, I was taught something that rebuked my answer. I can’t say it is normal just because everybody is doing it. Neither can I say it is normal just because it seems to be normal. I can only say that it is normal on the basis of the word of God. It is written so clear in the bible. Paul says, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” This is how I ought to live as a normal christian. I believe that Paul is not boasting about an attainment that only he has and we don’t, but he is explaining how he lived his life as how we ought to live our lives.

This is the normal christian life: Not I but Christ. This how I ought to live as a normal christian. All other forms of living is abnormal for a christian.

I began to understand that it is not the things I do e.g attending service that make me a christian, but it is the life I live that determine whether I am christian. The life I live is no longer my own life, but Christ’s life lived out in me, through me and for me.

Thanks be to God.