not comfortable

[Chrysostom]

Your discomfort at work is no small thing, for the affairs of every day are a fight, a tempest and a storm. Therefore we especially need the great weapon of prayer, early and before we go forth, so that with God made propitious we may pass through the long hours without shipwreck or wound.

Yet remember, we are taught to deprecate all conflicts instead of rushing upon them. When we are not summoned to the combat, it is wisdom to be quiet and wait, arming ourselves with patience and hope. For patience begets hope, and hope patience, and both are nourished by the Scriptures. So do not force a confrontation today; rather, let your soul be stayed on God, that your victory may be more glorious when the true time of testing comes.

And know this: every conflict has its root in the things of this life, covetousness, envy, vainglory. If you cut out that root, no fruit of discord remains. Has your coworker annoyed you? Then he has not injured you, unless you let him steal your heavenly treasure. For true honor and true peace are from above, and no earthly slight can touch them. The one who plots against his neighbor destroys himself first; but you, if you despise the passing provocations, preserve your own soul untouched.

Pray, then, that both you and your coworker may be refreshed in the struggle, for the righteous often find their trials enhanced just when their end is near, to make their crown brighter. Even things intolerable become tolerable when we see deliverance at the very doors. Let no one blame the craft or the labor, for neither soldiering nor trade nor any lawful work hinders virtue. David was a king, Paul a tentmaker, and Job a man of great possessions; yet in all this they were not kept from God. So go forward, not anxious, but trusting that He who makes much from little is able to give you calmness and wisdom without any subject-matter of your own strength.

 

[Silas]

I hear you. That knot in the stomach when you know you have to spend hours next to someone who makes your guard go up is exhausting. The tension can fill the air long before anything is actually said. It’s no small thing, and you’re right to bring it to prayer. That discomfort is a small window into the conflict woven through this broken world, a world where even ordinary interactions can feel like a battle.

When I’m consumed by anxiety like that, I’ve learned to ask myself the same question David asked: Why are you cast down? Why are you disquieted? Usually the answer is that I’ve quietly removed God from the picture. The situation looks impossible because I’m measuring it by my own thin ability to cope. I’m staring at the coworker, the personality clash, the awkward history, and God has slipped out of the equation. The way back to steadiness is to deliberately put Him back where He belongs. Hope in God. That’s not a vague wish; it’s fixing your eyes on the One who isn’t strained by any of this.

We have to remember that difficulty is never measured by the size of the problem but by the capacity of the One handling it. If it’s up to you to manufacture peace and control the atmosphere, then yes, the day ahead is difficult, maybe even impossible. But if God is involved, and He is, because He sees you and you’ve asked for His help, then the word difficult loses its weight. It is nothing for Him to steady your breathing, guard your tongue, and give you a quiet heart in a tense room. He can shift a relationship as easily as He can provide any other need, no matter how large it looms in your mind.

I’ll be straightforward: the deepest trust isn’t exercised when God does things my way. It’s exercised when He doesn’t. If He simply plucked every uncomfortable person out of your path, you’d never learn to lean on Him. The real test comes when the circumstance remains and you have to believe He is at work even though you can’t see it. You may not understand why this assignment is in front of you today. Just like Habakkuk, you might look at it and question, but you can still declare that your strength is in the Lord.

So I am not only praying that the discomfort lifts. I’m praying that you will sense God’s presence so clearly that this very situation becomes proof of His faithfulness. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you ask or think, and that includes flooding your inner world with peace while the outward setting stays unchanged. Walk in there knowing you aren’t carrying this alone. Put your hope in God, and let Him show you that no person, no tension, and no hard day is too much for Him.