Work-Mind Balance

On my renewed walk with Christ, I asked God to show me how to actually stay in His presence this time. He answered me at work.

I'm thankful for God's understanding love

While I was working, I felt this little nudge to be thankful. 

God used that moment to speak to me through understanding, and I’m writing this because I know a specific person needs this specific word for their specific situation. 

To set the scene, I work from home. At the time, I was writing an email so naturally, I thought about who I was writing the email to. A lady. A nice lady. 

I gave God thanks. 

It’s actually so refreshing to work with people who are real people. 

Like, people you wouldn’t mind meeting in real life. She is understanding, patient, and genuinely nice. 

I’ve worked with enough (that’s a command) people who are the type to hone in on your mistake, scrutinize you, then never let you forget it... 

But she's understanding. 

That led me to thank God for also being understanding because that’s how he shows His mercy and grace.  

I’m not perfect, and I know I’m not perfect. Only God is perfect.

But sometimes I still get beyond frustrated when I don’t do something right.

That’s my internal struggle that I take to God daily because when I look back on my life, time after time, I have used that same struggle in different ways to leave God’s presence. And willingly stay out of it. 

There were times where I felt like I made a mistake so great that I didn’t even want to talk to God about it, let alone ask for forgiveness. 

And when my emotions ran me out of God’s presence, they started running my life. 

Every mistake that I made spoke to my identity. Every failure reminded me that - I was too. 

(Back to work) This is when I understood why I was genuinely thanking God. I was thankful for not only the person, but their understanding. 

In that, God helped me to understand Work-Mind Balance. 

Work-life balance is the way you physically juggle the hours that work v. life gets in your day. 

Work-mind balance is not letting the things that happen at work stay with you and define you. 

Because work is work. 

Mistakes are made. Misunderstandings happen. Situations will test you. 

A colleague may do something that angers you. And you k n o w that they know what they did was wrong. And they may be the type to do wrong on purpose.. so now you’re really angry because the anger feels justified. 

That anger now has authority to follow you because your spirit came into agreement with it.

For me, certain situations would also re-affirm to my spirit that I am my mistakes.

That I’m not liked or well-received. That I am wrong. On so many levels.

Because of the agreement with the emotion, that spirit spoke to all the different versions of my life - woman, mom, partner, in my career, as a daughter, sibling, friend - my mind, which speaks through emotions (anger, depression, anxiety, shame), was always reminding my spirit that I was wrong. 

In all the ways I have been wrong, God understands me. He forgives me. 

He still chooses me. 

God answered my daily prayer at work. 

When I renewed my walk with Christ, I remember asking Him,

“God - you desire for me to stay in your presence. And you know my heart - that’s what I desire too. But you know I am human. I fall short of your glory everyday. God please help me understand how to stay in your presence. That’s where I want to view this life from. Help me to recognize anything in me and around me that keeps me out of your presence so that I can remove it before it removes yours.” 

I don’t remember immediately feeling better after that prayer, but I trusted that He would answer. 

And He did. And He does.

In the smallest ways that have created the biggest changes in my life. 

There’s no fear to start. No pressure of failure. Excited to continue. Trusting His lead (Ps 23:2-4 scroll to bottom).

If my God, who answers to so many names, plays so many roles, who is holy and perfect in all his ways… still finds me worthy… the realization of how whole His love is keeps me in His presence. 

Mistakes and emotions cannot govern what’s in His loving presence. Because that’s where only what He says matters. And He’s teaching me who I am - a reflection of who He is because His spirit lives through me (1 Cor 6:19). 

I know He understands how much our minds struggle because He became man himself. He had to die and rise up again to show us that there is still a way out. This flesh has condemned us to sin and the bible says all sin leads to death (Rom 6:23), but He died as the only man on this earth that never sinned to give us another choice (1 Cor 15:21-22).

Our bodies will pass away but your spirit lives on. 

And in His presence, your spirit is made whole. Holy. Redeemed and reclaimed by God - chosen to return. 

On the 5th day, God said “let us make mankind in OUR image” (Gen 1:26). 

That spirit, who is a part of His whole/holy presence, was separated and became our life to live (2 Cor 5:6). 

Your awareness is proof of God’s presence. 

When the first sin was made, the devil made us aware through guilt and shame (emotions!) that we were separated from the Spirit and given a physical body.

A body that dies. 

When God approached Adam who was hiding after he had eaten from the forbidden tree, God asked Adam “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” [Gen 3:11]

Naked means to be separate from what covers/clothes you (2 Cor 5:2-3). 

If God did not tell man that they were naked, physically and spiritually, then who told him? 

Who told you? 

What emotion, situation, or person told you that you were something God did not create you to be?

Has that situation broken your spirit?

Have you ran from His presence because of that? 

When we wake from the dust of this earth (Dan 12:2), God can only reclaim the spirit that has been made righteous and whole. Because that is who we are/were in His presence when He created us.  

He gave His life to show us that we can return. How to return.

Sin can be defeated (1 Cor 15:26).

Through his understanding, merciful, forgiving love that makes us whole again. 

Don’t let the things we have to live through in this world talk you out of your redemption. We get one shot, many chances, and two choices: life or death.

“For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

[2 Cor 5:10]

I pray we are redeemed. 

-CIN

Scriptures Referenced

Psalm 23:2-4

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

1 Corinthians 6:19

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Genesis 1:26

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

Genesis 3:11

And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?

2 Corinthians 5:2-3

2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,

3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

Daniel 12:2

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

1 Corinthians 15:26

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.