@Work (3) – My Ultimate Dependence (Deut 8:2-18)

I have been reading the news these past couple of weeks regarding the federal government shut down. I have to admit I don’t quite understand it all. I just know that one of my neighbors couldn’t go to work because of the shutdown. And I saw hundreds of people couldn’t get into National Parks and travel plans were ruined. I just know that it somehow has an impact on our economy. I think that’s why I am paying attention, and I think that’s why you might be paying attention. Because it might affect this thing that’s personal to all of us – this thing called work.

We have been talking about work the past couple of weeks and we said that work is personal. It has a massive impact in all of our lives, especially when we are going through a bad economy. Many of us are struggling holding on to our jobs or looking for jobs, and it takes a toll on all of us. We like it when the economy is good, we hate it when it’s bad. But can there actually be something good about a bad economy? In this last part of our series @work I am going to attempt to answer this question and offer a paradigm-changing perspective on what God might be up to behind the scenes of our current economic downturn.

Moving Forward

God loves you. He wants you to place your trust in him. Not your job. Not your earning potential. Not your connections. Not your abilities. Just him. If our current economy has increased your anxiety, perhaps your trust and dependence have been misplaced. What can you do this week to begin to trust God?

Discussion Questions

1. Describe your worst and/or best day of work. Share what happened and how you felt about that experience.

2. “A bad economy reveals what a good economy conceals.” What has the current bad economy revealed in your life (good or bad)? What were some of the specifics that helped reveal this truth?

3. Read Deuteronomy 8:10-14. Have you ever forgotten God? What was going on in your life at that time?
4. Read Deuteronomy 8:17-18. Some of us take work too seriously and Jesus not seriously enough. Are you currently taking Jesus seriously enough? Are you taking work too seriously? What evidence can you use to support your answers? Are you trusting God for your future, or are you trusting your job?