A question came up by a participant in a career clinic I facilitated. After giving the background information of the company where people work for many years without promotion, how they don’t care about the employees, etc, she now asked her question like this;
“In the face of unemployment in the country, what should I do”.
My honest answer was “deal with it, it’s your life”
Good question she asked but with a victim mindset. As much as I cannot reproduce all she said about the company here, she came across like the company is too bad, she is not being well taken care of despite appearing there everyday and she is powerless because “there are no jobs out there”.
For a Christian employee to have this mindset shows the level of ignorance of such individual and the operation of the spirit of murmuring.
It is reflected in ignorance of who we are in Christ Jesus, of the power of words, of God’s plan and purpose for our lives, of the authority we have as believers.
When the spirit of murmuring is added to the ignorance, it becomes a two edged sword.
Sadly, the spirit of murmuring never produces anything good. (Numbers 14:27-30, Numbers 16:41-45, Exodus 16, Philippians 2:14-15, 1 Corinthians 10:10)
God who already had a plan that preceded the generation of Israelite that left Egypt asked them to go spy the land that He had given to their forefathers, 10 out of 12 people came back with negative reports which incited the rest of the people to start murmuring against God. We saw how God responded to these two categories of people. The 10 murmurers and the people they incited were destroyed while the 2 that trusted in God to give them the land were granted a place in the promised land.
The spirit of murmuring is an act of faithlessness towards God, distrust in Him and His words, a blatant show of ungratefulness and an affront to Him that He is not real. This is why God deals with it instantly.
In the New Testament age, because of the long suffering of God, the effect may not be instant, nevertheless, it is never less damaging. It destroys our relationship with God, could lead to spiritual apathy, depression, stagnation in life, developing a victim mindset (this is so damaging) etc
Whatever you are going through in your place of work, deal with it without murmuring.
- Leave the organisation if you have to leave
- Speak God’s word to change it
- Pray it off if that is what is required
- Put your mind on God
But never ever murmur.
Your murmuring is not against your employer but against your God who has called you into His marvelous light.
Akindele Afolabi.
Christian Employee Series