There is one company in particular (and probably many more) that has had no little amount of difficulty in filling an available position. Over the last five years, at least four different men have worked the job. They, like many other companies, want to hire people with experience. They want employees who require a little less training, and maybe have some education in the industry. They want a ready-made employee.

However, in all their hiring of guys with experience, they failed to look for the most important component of all—work ethic. Hire a guy with experience. Great. But how hard will he work for the company? Is the job just a paycheque so he can turn his phone off and hang out with his buddies on the weekend? Or is he a guy with not so much experience, but an eagerness to work and a wife and kids at home that depend on him?

As this company discovered, it’s not always the guys with the experience that turn out to be the best employees—it’s the guys who are willing to get down and get dirty and have dependents they must provide for.

DEPENDENT: One who is at the disposal of another; one who is sustained by another, or who relies on another for support or favor.

People tend work harder when they’re not just working for themselves, but for others who could not live without them.

Give me happiness, O Lord,
for my life depends on you.

Psalm 86:4 (NLT)

We are God’s children, His dependents. We literally cannot live without Him—a fact He knows very well.

As we’re reading through the Psalms, think about how many verses speak to God of needing rescue, life, sustenance. God, our Father, is like both the employee with experience and the one with dependents. He knows what He’s doing and He has a reason to work hard at it—us. He’s not lazy. He doesn’t turn His phone off on weekends. He’s not absent.

for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death!

Psalm 86:13 (NLT)

For the Lord God is our light and protector.
He gives us grace and glory.
No good thing will the Lord withhold
from those who do what is right.
O Lord, Almighty,
happy are those who trust in you.

Psalm 84:11-12 (NLT)

Daily Bible reading: Psalm 85-87, Romans 9