Latest / Prayer Before Work / A Different Department Just Ended Your Remote Work - Prayer Before Work
Transcript
- Sean Graver: A few co-workers from a different department started keeping a log of when you're at your desk. And now the whole company is back in the office five days a week because of a return to office mandate. Hey, this is Sean, and welcome back to Prayer Before Work. Well, you had an arrangement that worked out really well. Your job can be done entirely from home. You've got an hour plus commute each way. And when you were hired, your manager agreed you could stay remote more often or most of the time. And then some folks in another department, people who have to be on site because of their particular work requirements, they got frustrated. They started tracking who was around and who wasn't, and asking managers why they hadn't seen certain people lately. And instead of dealing with that, leadership just made everyone come in every day. So now you're back in the car for nearly three hours a day because of people who aren't even on your team. And you've got a reason to be angry because you took the job based on those terms. But I do want to talk about where the anger goes. Because in James 1, verses 19 and 20, it says it this way: Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man Does not produce the righteousness of God. Wow. So it's it it's it's not that anger is never justified, but right here it says anger, if left unchecked, it doesn't build anything good. Now it might feel great to tell those co-workers exactly what you think of their spreadsheet, but it won't get your flexibility back. So what does quick to hear look like? it might mean asking what was actually going on in the other department. I mean, people who have to be there every day, maybe watching others who don't have to be, can start to feel like the company values them less. And that doesn't excuse logging people's attendance like that, but it might explain it. And understanding where someone's coming from makes it a lot a lot harder to hold them Or to hold contempt for them. You know, so slow to speak might mean waiting for a few days before you say anything in the hallway or a group chat. And then if you want to push back, well, push back with your manager through the right channels with facts. You know, your commute time, your productivity, what was agreed to at hiring time. Calm, specific concerns get heard. Rants just get filed under complaints. And yes, updating the resume is a fair option, but some workplaces make decisions that tell you who they are. Just make sure you're running towards something that's better and not just running away from a bad week. So let's pray. Well, God, we're frustrated, and some of this feels really unfair. Help us slow down before we say something that we can't take back and give us ears. To hear what others are going through, even when they've made our lives harder, and where we need to speak up, help us do it with wisdom and respect. And whatever this means for our daily routine, help us bring a good attitude through the door with us, even after the long drive in. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, now go make today count.