Shift Ends, Work Continues

Shift Ends, Work Continues by Rev. Dr. Omolola Omoteso

Yes! When the shift ends, the WORK remains

The title brings me to remember a dearly beloved woman of God - Ma. Willie May. We met at Fellowship Deaconry; she went to be with the Lord in 2023... She was a blessing indeed. Before we met she had visited Nigeria on a mission trip.

She always ends every greeting and meeting with "We Continue". She has continued the race of lifeafter in the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We all have work not just a job.

A job is what they pay you to do and it shifts. Mother spent 29 years at her job, one day it ended but her work of touching lives with prophetic and pastoral calling continued  

Work is what Divinity gifted you to do on this earth and it stays.

Let me tell you the difference.

I know a woman who worked in a nursing home. On paper, her job was simple. Arrive. Answer. Bed. Bath. Check. Change... A. B. C. Clock in, clock out.

That was her job.

But that was never her work.

Her work was to care and heal. Sitting with people the world had forgotten. Holding a shaking hand when family did not come. Praying silently as she walked the hallway and over the patient laid on a pillow. Interceeding on her drive in and drive out. Upholsing dignity of sick patient even when they hurl insults at her. Quietly advocating and changing the mindset of those who have been manipulated into chores for which they never signed so owners can make more profit. Arriving to make an old woman laugh again when she had not laughed in weeks. Responding to thr complaints of an elderly man carrying for his unwell wife. Looking into the eyes of clients to project healing when the world has sealed dying.

She did not just change sheets. She changed atmospheres. She did not just alter the cause of damnation and diseases, she delivered destinies.

One day, the shift was suddenly silenced; the job ended, as jobs do. The contract was over. She solemnly bade farewell to the nursing home.

The employer was excited that the woman who interfered with their trade was gone but her work was not done.

Not because the people she touched will call her. Not because the families will remember her. Not because those she trained still carry her kindness or the old woman she sat with still said, That lady prayed for me but because the work of caring and healing continues beyond a place or space. Scrubs came off but scriptures continue.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and our commission is beyond Samaria and Judea, to the uttermost parts of the earth.

The job ended. The work continued.

That is the difference.

A job ends when salary stops or they stop paying you. Your work continues because God never stopped sending you.

A job pays your bills.
Your work fulfills your calling.

A job can fire you here on earth.
Your work fired up in you, follows you even to heaven.

A job is what you do for a company or client.
Your work is what God trusted you to do for humanity.

A job is in a building.
Your work is in you.

A job can be taken.
Your work can only be abandoned - and even then, God will keep calling you back to it. His calling is without repentance.

So many of us are focused on the job and we have forgotten the work.

Many of us are busy with the job, and we have abandoned the work.

We clock in, we clock out, we complain, we survive - but we never ask: Lord, what did you actually give or gift ME to do?

We ask:
How much will they pay me?
What is my title?
What is my schedule?

We never ask:
Lord, what did you send or gift me to do in this place?
God, what did you send me to earth for?
Holy Spirit, who needs the anointing I carry?

If you don't know the work that Divinity gifted you, don't guess, don't copy somebody else, don't chase what is trending.

Pray the prayer of inquisition.

Not a cute prayer. Not a quick prayer. Inquire of the Lord... an inquisition prayer. A prayer that speaks to Divinity until you receive answers. We cannot query God but we can ask Him questions about why He sent us here.

Pray it like this:

Lord Jesus, what did you put in me before you sent me here? What is my work? Show me, Lord. Show me the path to purpose.

It was Jacob who said, I will not let you go until you bless me. Ask for the blessing of insight into your struggle over job so you can receive your mandate for work.

Pray it in the morning.
Pray it in the afternoon.
Pray it in the evening.
Pray it in the night.
Pray it at midnight.
Pray it until your heart yearns for one thing and you cannot rest until you do it.

Pray
Until
Something
Happens

Some of us have been faithful to a job that was never our work. And some of us have buried our work because our job is louder and the title made us popular.

It is time to see what we are called to do and never let earning a pay cheque derail destiny.

Understand that for every job there is Artemis and Diana... if you interfere with their trade they will rise up spirituallly or physically. Stay focused and pick your battles.

For lasting peace, focus more on your work, rather than your job. Your job will end one day. Your work will echo after you.

That woman in the nursing home?

She is no longer on the payroll but her work is still walking those hallways. In every person she loved. In every person she healed without a prescription. In every person who received the blessing of returning home.

Her God is still paying her bills and opening up more rooms to do the work Divinity gifted

What is your work?

Grace Always!

Dr. Omolola Omoteso-Famuyiwa is a minister who is passionate about sharing God's words for the healing of others.