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Prayer Coach Prayer Coach : worldview : Does Work Have to Be This Hard?

Does Work Have to Be This Hard?

    Does Work Have to Be This Hard?

    “What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23)

    Where is the Abundant Life?

    There has got to be more to this life than how it is described in Ecclesiastes, and yet too many Christians feel that this is true.

    • Where is this abundant life Jesus promised (John 10:10)?
    • Is it only for those spiritual parts of our lives.
    • Only on Sundays, is it to be supernaturally enabled so we can get to church?

    Work Was Given As a Blessing

    The first responsibility God gave man was to work (Genesis 2:15). This responsibility was given before the fall and was not given as a punishment. Once sin entered the work, work was cursed and made harder. Work was then characterized by the sweat of the brow and painful toil (Genesis 3:17-19), and this is now how many still experience their work. Does God intend us to work this hard? It doesn’t have to be this way.

    Is Work Still Cursed?

    Every curse was placed upon Jesus at the cross. He became a curse for us that we may not live under a curse (Galatians 3:13-14). Therefore the curse placed on work no longer has any power over us. Then why does it still feel like it?

    This is a good question. They same question can be asked on why do we still struggle with sin, or why do we still get sick. The reality of sin and sickness in our lives does not change our beliefs that both are taken care of at the cross. They are just areas where we still have not fully applied all that Jesus died to give us. This tension only draws us into more of God.

    Let’s Press Into the Blessing of Work

    The tension we experience with work should do the same thing. We should not settle for stress and toil at work. Let’s us be a people that presses in for more of God to where our work starts overflowing God’s abundance.

    I would love to hear your thoughts. Leave comments below on how you have experienced God’s blessings in your work.

    Going Farther With God At Work

    4 thoughts on “Does Work Have to Be This Hard?”

    1. Hi

      Thanks for the thought provoking idea.
      I think that ideally we would see work as a blessing. Unfortunatly I, and many like me see it as a burden that is often hard to bear. It depends if you have been fortunate enough to have a job that inspires you, otherwise it can be a constant drain on your self esteem.
      The fact is that many people, like myself, often feel crushed by work in a way that pushes out our more gracious instincts. I try to be more humble with regard to my aspirations for myself and my future, attempt to take one day at a time and give thanks for what I have.
      In the end I just have to lump it (as we say here) if I can’t change my work. I have to believe that my place in God’s Universe is the one given to me and I just have to do my best, whatever that best may be.
      We are all exhorted in contemporary culture to keep our dreams alive and “reach for the stars” but not so much asked to dwell more on developping patience and acceptance so that we can live more at peace with our caged lion.

      1. Dear Sebastian,
        Thank you for your candor. I understand that the pressures of life sometimes are directing us down paths we feel like we have no choices. You have bills and responsibilities and need to get some job to take care of everything. I would suggest though that as Christians we are never trapped by our circumstances. We may be led to do things we would naturally run from, but we are overcomes. We are to consider it joy when we face trials of many kinds. Even Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. We can put our perspective in such a place where the world cannot touch it. And from that place the fruit of the spirit can easily flow out of us.

        I really appreciate you sharing. I know your feelings are real, but as one with God you are never without hope. Hope gives room for faith and faith prepares a place for God to move.

        His grace and peace to you,
        Kevin

    2. Great post, Kevin, and very challenging. To be honest, work was the one place where I never really felt the presence of God and I struggled in my faith there probably more than anywhere else. Now I am currently not working, I look back and feel a sadness that it was always such a struggle.
      Some day I may return to the workforce and, if and when I do, I pray that I will find it to be as you have described it should be.

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