Top 7 Bible Verses For Those Feeling Workplace Pressure

Here are seven Bible verses that I hope can help you endure the pressures of work.

Esther 4:14 “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

A close friend of mine who recently got demoted at work commented that he couldn’t understand why this happened to him since he’s never late, never misses work, and he’s always received high marks at his employee evaluations, so all I could think to tell him was that it may be for such a time and place as this that God has placed you for His purposes. It might be witnessing to a co-worker, it might be to encourage others, or to train those who he works with since he had a lot of experience in that department. Whatever reason it is, it will work out for his very best in the end (Rom 8:28).

First Corinthians 4:6-7 “That you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

Many of the believers in the Corinthian church were full of themselves and they boasted about their gifts, possessions, or status and the Apostle Paul didn’t like this at all so he asked them, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” His point was they had nothing at all except that which had been given to them by God, so even if someone’s a CEO or supervisor, they cannot boast all things exist because of and come from God.

Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

Solomon wrote something very similar, writing “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Eccl 9:10) or give it all you’ve got since you’re really not working for the employer but for God as it all comes from God anyway (1st Cor 4:7). We are working for God and our inheritance isn’t determined by the HR department or the supervisor but by God and He Himself will reward you.

Second Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

As we have read, work done for an employer or even being self-employed is being done for God and not for ourselves. Everything we do on this earth is either for ourselves or for God’s glory and our heavenly rewards are based upon that since “if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward” (1st Cor 3:12-14), however “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1st Cor 3:15).

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

This verse says that whatever we go through in this life, God will use it for our good and that it doesn’t matter if it’s good things or bad. God uses everything in our life for our best and we must believe that. Since God can even use evil for good (Gen 50:20), trust Him, obey Him, and leave the results up to God.

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

Solomon is saying that by committing yourself to the Lord, God will establish the plans you have in your life for His purpose and for your good. It may not always look like it at first but time will tell. As long as we’re committed to God and doing things for His glory, God will establish what plans we have; just as long as it’s not all about us.

First Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

When I met my wife, I was working as a janitor and she was a 4th grade school teacher and if there was a caste system in America, I would have been considered unclean to her, in a manner of speaking. What I mean is I didn’t feel worthy to even ask her for a date? What would the other teachers think of her if they discovered she was dating, not only a janitor, but the elementary school janitor? As long as I do it for God’s glory, eat, drink, work, or date, God will work things out for our best.

Conclusion

Work is not a dirty word because that was God’s command from the very beginning (Gen 2:15) as He said, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work” (Ex 20:9) so not only is a command to rest one day a week but we are to work six days. I am not saying that it’s sin if we only work five days; my point is, work is commanded by God and if someone doesn’t work, they shouldn’t eat (2nd Thess 3:10). This isn’t referring to those who are not able to work but for those who are able to work but choose not to. If a person chooses not to work, they’ll have a lot worse pressure than just dealing with work; they’ll have a struggle putting food in their mouth.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.