Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. (MSG)

When I wrote Reflections On Success in 1996, I had been a public servant for 22 years. I remember farther back, when I was having job interviews back in the early 1970s, one recruiter asked me where I wanted to be in five years. I told this person, "I want to be where God wants me to be." Now, as I prepare to exit the public service after almost 34 years, it's been a pretty amazing time, and I can see God's blessing all along the way.

I don't think I'd have ever dreamed that a public service career could have turned into a ministry opportunity. In fact, for the first six years or so, I just did my job, "crunching numbers" for Statistics Canada (StatCan). Then around 1980, I discovered that some folks at work were meeting over the noon-hour to study the Bible. This was not new to me — I'd been involved in Bible studies at university and in my own church — but in a work setting — this was something new. I joined the group, and within a few years, I graduated to leadership when the founder retired. Sometimes, it would be only myself and one other person, but we continued to meet ("wherever two or three are gathered…") and over a number of years, God honoured our faithfulness, and other groups were formed by some of those we'd nurtured along. Today, there are six different Christian activities happening regularly at StatCan, including a French group, a Mandarin group, a "video group" that grew out of an Alpha program, and one group that regularly looks at some of the "Christian classics" like The Westminster Confession of Faith. Mainly, we explore what it is to be a Christian in the workplace, but this also involves getting to know one another on a deeper level, supporting each other in prayer, and much more. My group has been a rock for me over the years when I was so busy in my own church that I couldn't squeeze in time in the evenings for Bible study. To see some of "our folk" mature as Christians, wanting to follow God more closely, willing to take on tasks to serve Him, touches the heart.

So, as I prepare to exit my workplace in the next month or so, what is foremost in my mind is what has been accomplished for His kingdom. The rest pales in comparison!

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to trust You to keep us on track, Your track, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Help us to be Your people each day, to show others by our love that we have a loving heavenly Father, and to help them to come to know You, too. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.