Weekly Impact is written for leaders by our former Executive Director, Garth Jestley, who has decades of experience in senior leadership roles in the financial services sector. Each week he will share insights on life, leadership and faith.
“I am the Vine, you are the branches…Separated, you can’t produce a thing.” ~Jesus
Last week, I explored some reasons why we followers of Jesus must let our light shine at work. Indeed, a compelling “why” is the foundation for sharing our faith anywhere.
However, since transparency in the workplace regarding faith in God is sometimes greeted with scepticism if not outright hostility, a big “why” is not always sufficient motivation. Actually, the frequent outcry these days against any speech that doesn’t conform to prevailing secular orthodoxy can be reason enough for some believers to simply turn off their light!
Today and next week, I will share my personal strategies for maximizing the intensity and consistency of my light in the marketplace. These postings are not treatises on best practices! Undoubtedly, many of you have other strategies that work well for you.
For Mary and me, putting first things first every day is critical. This means we dedicate time first thing each morning to being in God’s presence. We take seriously Jesus’ aforementioned admonition that, without Him, we can accomplish nothing. Thus, knowing Him better by starting each day this way has been one of our key disciplines for years.
To accomplish this, we get up between 0430 and 0500 most days although on Saturdays we sometimes sleep in until 0600! Once the first cup of coffee is poured, we spend a few minutes reminding one another of our many blessings. We see this practice as a great way to bring our light out of “sleep mode.”
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, we thank God for His forgiveness and intimate involvement in every facet of our lives. Our gratitude to God encompasses the gift of life itself and His ongoing provision for all our needs including hope, security, health and finances. We thank Him for those with whom we are particularly close including one another, our children and grandchildren. Invariably other ideas surface for which to give thanks.
Having started with thanksgiving, we usually move into worship. These days, there are wonderful resources available on YouTube so we typically dial up one or more of these. Since we first encountered Jesus, experiencing the presence of God through worship has always played a big role in our lives.
As I pen this, we are currently enjoying a vacation in the Muskokas. One of the pieces with which we engaged today is “Remembrance”, sung by Brooke Ligertwood of Hillsong Worship. It ties directly to my foregoing thoughts on gratitude.
Following a time of worship, we engage in a variety of daily disciplines the length and order of which tend to vary. These include reading passages of the Bible to one another, reading devotional material and praying over various people and issues as God leads. Typically, prayers include family, friends, business and challenges of which we have become aware through the media.
These past few days, we have joined many people around the world praying for the son of friends who suffered a life threatening accident. We rejoice that he is now out of danger and on the path to full recovery!
Next week, I’ll complete this series by sharing what shining my light at work looks like.
Garth Jestley is a husband, father, grandfather, leader and business executive. Most importantly, he is a follower of Jesus Christ.