Latest / Prayer Before Work / You Worked 43 Hours. Your Manager Called It “Bare Minimum.” - Prayer Before Work
Transcript
- C0663: You worked forty-three hours last week, you skipped your brakes, knocked out everything on your list, and your manager just told you it was bare minimum. My name is Sean, and welcome back to Prayer Before Work. So here's how it went down. There was this project you'd known about for a while, but it only officially landed on your plate this week. no due date, no timeline. So you did what you could with it and put your energy into the things that were already on your plate and clearly do. And then your aunt your manager asks why it isn't finished. Well, you explained that last week was a heavy workload, and the answer comes back like this. You were assigned the bare minimum for your role. It was not, in fact, a heavy workload. Well, that kind of stings, doesn't it? I mean, you weren't looking for a trophy here, but it feels like everything you poured out last week just didn't count, like like nobody saw it. Well, the Apostle Paul knew something about being judged by the people around him. Now he's writing to a church in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 that had plenty of opinions about him. And he says, as for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or any human authority. I don't even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear. But that doesn't prove I'm right. It is the Lord Himself who will examine me and decide. And I love how balanced that is. You know, Paul doesn't let other people's verdicts define him, but he doesn't hand the final say to himself either. My conscience is clear, he says, but that doesn't prove I'm right. And that can be kind of a freeing thing on a day like this. I mean your manager's words don't get to be the final word on your worth or your work ethic, but your frustration doesn't get to be the final word either. Somewhere between you're a slacker and I'm completely right here, there might be something useful to see. I mean maybe your manager honestly doesn't know what your week looked like. And maybe that project mattered more to them than they ever said. Maybe there was just a gap in communication that left you both guessing. So here's something practical. Next time a project shows up like this without a deadline, ask for one. You know, just something like, well, where does this fall against everything else on my list? I mean, get the answer in like writing like an email if you can. and that's not about covering yourself. It's just about making sure that the two of you are working off of the same map or the same plan. And and one more thing, skipping breaks. To keep up is not something you should look at as a badge of honor. If the only way to get the job done is to run yourself down, that deserves some attention. But let's pray. God, it hurts to give our best and then hear that it wasn't much. Well, we thank you that our worth isn't decided by one conversation with a manager. Keep us from getting bitter and and keep us honest enough to see if there's something we could do better. Yeah, and give us courage to ask clear questions and and and the humility to hear the answers. And also help us rest when we need to, trusting that you see the work even when other people miss it. In Jesus' name, amen. And go make today count.