Working 9 to 5

Give us this day our daily bread...

I wonder on a given day, when people get in their cars to go to work, how many people tell God, Thank you for providing for the needs of our family through this job?

It dawned on me yesterday as I drove up to pick up my dry cleaning close to my house. I casually joked with the owner how he needed to take a day off. It seems as if he has been working a lot. I said, "you need to hire someone so you don't have to work so hard." His serious reply was, "things have changed. Life is hard for everyone now. Our business has taken a huge hit in the past year. People have cut corners everywhere, the dry cleaning business is just one more corner to be cut. Prior to last year, my pressers were working 40 hours shifts. Today if I am lucky, a good week for them is 30 hours."

There are few who have escaped the effects of the economy and most people's lives have been changed. So many people struggle to make ends meet, if they still have a job. My husband tells me when he comes home from work at times how people complain about how much they make, that it isn't enough, they need more. I think that is part of our human nature, that what we have isn't enough.

Our pastor has been doing a series on contentment the past few weeks. Yesterday was just one more living example of being content. For out of a heart of gratitude, results in contentment. Being thankful each day that my husband has a job and is willing to work for a living is another reason to Thank God.

Do you see the hand of God, providing for your daily needs through the work that you have been given? If you do, just say Thank you. He is faithful, kind and merciful in providing for us!