Heidi

Krumenauer

Corporate America has a way of taking a toll on everyone. Universally, it appears the office environment is all the same – backstabbing, rumor mills, brown-nosing the boss, pushing to get ahead. It’s a wonder any work gets accomplished with all the extracurricular activity among the worker bees.

It had been a particularly grueling day with a high level of anxiety, conflict, arrogance, nastiness and general tension among my co-workers. I had pushed through the day, counting down the hours to call it a week, and I was looking forward to spending the rest of the evening at home with my husband and boys. 

I secluded myself from the office activities long enough to pray: Lord, am I the only one here who gets You today? Do these people even know you exist? And if they do, can you please help them see what a mess they are making of my day?

I felt very alone – very isolated from people who show kindness and compassion to each other — Christian people. God knew I needed to feel some inclusion again, so He made the drive home an interesting one.

Just a mile from the office, I pulled up behind a car with the license plate “1ST PRAY”. Once on the Interstate, I changed lanes and ended up behind a car sporting “13 COR 13” (Corinthians 13:13 – “…the greatest of these is love.”)

I was starting to see God’s message in the traffic. A couple miles up the road, a truck pulled in the lane ahead of me – his bumper sticker said: “Jesus Saves”. In the lane next to him, a car displayed the ichthus (fish).

OK, God, I prayed. It’s very clear. Even when I don’t always see it, I’m surrounded by You and people who love You.

I continued to thank God for providing such a clear visual for me. But in my prayer, I wondered how many days I, too, act in an unpleasant manner, just like my co-workers were doing that day? How many times do others wish they could count on me to provide a Christ-like environment, but I don’t offer them one? Were there days my co-workers also felt isolated from kindheartedness, and I was a reason for their pain?

In 1 Peter 3:8 NASB, he lists the characteristics of a believer as

“… harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.”

I knew how badly I felt that day at work, existing in an environment that reflected none of these qualities.