Self-Efficacy for Good Works

I can do all things through Christ!

(Philippians 4:13)

Yesterday, I was in a business development class and the facilitator told all of the participants to walk over to the window and in one little word, describe what we saw. Collectively, we blurted about a lot of tangible things in our view. After a couple of minutes, she reminded us of why we had assembled for the day, and prophetically, one of my class mates yelled out: OPPORTUNITY! When he said that, I was suddenly transformed back to that little girl who used to sing: I’m looking for a miracle / I expect the impossible / I feel the intangible / I see the invisible / Just believe and receive it / God will perform it today***. What happened to her?

I can tell you what happened to her. She started to believe that all of the miraculous things that happened in her life were because of her own self-effort. Self-efficacy is defined as the belief in one's own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. People with high self-efficacy tend to take on challenges that may appear difficult to others and determine the best plan of action, or process, to perform the work. Her motivation and drive came from learning to persevere and making it look easy to do the impossible. Success increases self-efficacy, so her response to questions about how she’s able to reach her goals: I can do all things!

Yes, I can do all things…but the most important words of that verse is through Christ. I actually believed that I could develop a new business model, unlike anything commercially successful in industrial manufacturing today, on my own self-effort. So I stepped out on faith, pressing toward what I believed was my purposed work, and for the first time in a long time, not reaching the goals in the desired timeframe. I was operating at a lower self-efficacy, yet seeking encouragement to continue the work. Just believe and receive it / God will perform it today. My new phrase: Through Christ-in-me-self-efficacy: Grace and strength to endure His purposed work and reach the goal comes only from the Holy Spirit, through increased faith that comes from a continuous prayer life. So on days when I am feeling fearful or doubtful about the progress or the process, I know the source of the helping hand that allows me to be strong and courageous to do the work. No good thing will He withhold from those who are called by purpose.

The end of self-effort is the beginning of grace. God cannot work where you have your hands. Through Christ-in-me-self-efficacy, I have the confidence to believe and receive the good works He has purposed in my life. What intangible or invisible miracle do you believe to receive? Remember: OPPORTUNITY. The sky is the limit! Feel free to comment, or, send me an email at latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.

***: I'm Looking for a Miracle lyrics by the Clark Sisters

Numbers of Good Works

…You have given him dominion over the good works of your hands…

(Psalm 8:6)

The job numbers were announced this week. In August 2013, 169,000 total jobs were added and unemployment fell to 7.3%. Specific to manufacturing, the Institute for Supply Management reported the fastest factory expansion index rate since June 2011. It sounded like positive news, until I saw this graph, illustrating that 6 million manufacturing jobs were lost in the United States between 2000 and 2009:

 

There is a lot of talk of a resurgence in manufacturing, but is it realistic to think that the US can return to pre-2000 employment numbers in industrial manufacturing?
 

As I pondered about the return of manufacturing jobs, the first thought that came to mind: with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. I thought of the story of Peter and his efforts to catch fish, resulting in literally nothing for hours. But with one touch, suddenly a divine intervention of time, place, and a mass of fish, allowed Peter to exercise his faith and obedience, by putting down his net, and receiving his reward for his service. If God performed that miracle for fishermen, He can do the same for manufacturing.

I live in the Energy Capital of the world. Pre-2000, one of primary deterrents of operating an industrial manufacturing factory was energy costs. Fast forward to 2012, and this region has started to gear up its construction efforts to produce more shale gas, natural gas, or heavy oil into usable products. The petrochemical industry in this area is booming and I can see the positive trends falling over into other areas of manufacturing: steelmakers, pipe and tube manufacturers, concrete accessories, and glass manufacturers. In fact, a recent IHS study confirms that manufacturing related to producing unconventional oil and gas will support over 500k jobs (or 4.2% of all manufacturing jobs) by 2025. To read the entire study, visit http://www.ihs.com/info/ecc/a/americas-new-energy-future-report-vol-3.aspx.

With the 500k jobs forecasted to produce oil and natural gas, there is still the matter of where will the remaining 5.5 million job derive. To be honest, many jobs will not come back. A significant portion of the jobs losses in the United States were due to productivity improvements in manufacturing. Larger companies who have invested in automation and robots are able to do more with less, freeing up resources to focus on more value-added activities like research and development. The goal is to innovate the next generation of industrial goods and services needed by the global economy. On the other hand, this effort to innovate is also in process locally, among smaller companies and communities.

I began this post questioning whether or not the United States could ever return to pre-2000 employment numbers in industrial manufacturing. Six million jobs is a large gap to close. As believers, we have to place our faith in The One who has dominion over the good works of our hands. We have to invest our efforts, time, and talent until we are commanded to cast down our nets to receive work that He has purposed for us to do. Feel free to comment about your thoughts on the return of manufacturing jobs, or, send me an email at latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.