When I was 22 and newly married, I worked as an essay grader for a standardized test that the State of Texas inflicted upon fourth graders. My job was to evaluate on a scale from one to five how well 10-year-old students could describe a picture of an old time country store that they were given and instructed to write about using a Number Two pencil. I evaluated at least 200 essays per shift along with about 100 other people desperate to find better jobs. After the first week I started keeping count on a little scratch pad how many times the essays would start, “Have you ever wondered what an old time country store looks like?” I very quickly stopped wondering.
The gig was temporary and the pay was sub-par but enough to put food on the table, which for us at the time was a scratched up end table we used as we sat and eat on the floor together. Those were the good ole romantic but poor honeymoon nest days. I loved coming home every night but dreaded going to work every day.
A Bible verse kept me heart alive during those mind numbing days. I meditated on it often. It was Paul’s advice to the pitiless people who found themselves under an unfair yoke of tyranny:
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." – Colossians 3:23-24
After every last old time country store had been described, my contract ended and I got a job as a reporter for a new political magazine in Austin called “Politics Today.” The editor was an Asian grad student who studied science but had a real passion for politics. He saved up enough of his money for his start-up magazine that he would pit against Newsweek and Time. I was all for that as long as I got paid.
His limited budget allowed for one full-time reporter and a one-room office in a seedy area of town. I worked 8-hour days and made a lot of phone calls to get interviews (these were the days before the internet made research much easier). No one had ever heard of “Politics Today,” of course, so I had to bluff my way through as many interviews as I could get. I did long pieces on things I didn’t know that much about and that very few people would ever read. My boss, who only came into the office once a week, mostly complained that my work wasn’t in-depth enough. I felt it unfair for him to have all these expectations while offering no real resources. He hardly ever said a kind word to me. I did enjoy the creative part of the job (better than old time country stores), but as an extrovert hated working in an empty office all day by myself.
I kept good ole Colossians 3:23-24 in the top drawer of my desk and pulled it out often to read it, eventually memorizing and personalizing it: I am working not for this unfair editor but for the Lord. I will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward for being faithful here, so I will do this job with all my heart. It is the Lord Christ whom I am serving.
I didn’t have to wait until the afterlife to get a reward from the Lord. “Politics Today” folded after just two issues and it wasn’t long before a found a much better job, one with a dynamic team of people and exciting new challenges. I loved it and worked there for years.
My true boss was never the State of Texas or an unfair grad student. It was and it is the Lord, and He is a rewarder of faithfulness. He who is faithful in little will be ruler of much, so goes the spiritual principle.
In whatever place of drudgery, obscurity or unfairness you find yourself toiling in today, know that God is watching you. He is watching you so that He can reward you. Sincerity of heart comes out of reverence for Him. You will receive a reward directly from His generous hand. He will promote you as one who has been faithful in little.
It is the Lord Christ whom you are serving.