We spend our entire lives working. Work is in our DNA. Yet, all too often, people get to the end of their life (or have a mid-life crisis) and question the value of their work. Now, there are many verses talking about how NOT to work (we discussed two of them in our previous article HERE), but what is God’s blueprint for work and how to find purpose in it?
As followers of Christ, we know there is more to work than simply loving what we do and putting in the hours. If we want our work to be truly fulfilling, there are two key, not-so-secret (but greatly overlooked) ingredients: God’s presence in our work and the orientation of our hearts.
#1 God Must be Present in Our Work
Psalm 127:1-2 puts this into perspective:
“Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.”
In these verses, the builder is working diligently and the guard is protecting diligently, but the psalmist says that their actions are completely useless unless God is working too. God’s involvement and direction is essential to making anything worthwhile. Unless God builds, our building is wasted. Unless God protects, our protection is wasted. Even if we work diligently and there is tangible, earthly success, what is the point if God is not there? Think of a successful old man at the end of his life asking, “Was the sacrifice to achieve “this” *camera pans out showing his massive business empire* worth it?”…if God was truly present, directing, and building alongside him, the answer is “YES!”
Paul talks about this concept in 1 Corinthians as well. He makes it clear that everything he accomplished only happened because of God’s grace in him.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me…” 1 Corinthians 15:10
God’s presence in our work is about recognizing our dependence on Him, seeking His will through prayer, and understanding and asking for His grace.
This leads us to the second ingredient…
#2 A Heart That is Fully Engaged.
Our society has come to the predominant consensus that our hearts need to be fully invested in our work and that if we are passionate and love what we do, we are more likely to be happy and successful (find fulfillment). Being passionate about and loving what we do are gifts from God; yet, as Christians, we understand that true fulfillment only comes through Christ. We have a completely different “WHY” than the rest of society. We strive to love and serve God instead of our own happiness. This “WHY” makes all the difference. Instead of a lifelong rat-race chasing our own happiness, there is purpose rooted in something eternal and greater than ourselves – serving Christ – which will provide true fulfillment.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the lord, not human masters…it is the lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23
“…And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered. (The context here is Hezekiah Organizing the Priests) 2 Chronicles 31:21
God created us to work diligently and in a meaningful direction with ALL of our heart. This includes our time, actions, passion and creativity…all done with a desire to serve God. Easier said than done, right? I think Paul provides a good starting point to this journey: to understand God’s grace is to understand our work (1 Corinthians 15:10).
This article begs practical outcomes. Answers we all need to wrestle with in our own life:
- What does it look like for God to actually be present in our work?
- What does it mean to have a heart fully engaged?
- How often is our passion and creativity applied to our daily work?
- How are grace and work practically related?
- How does my work look different when God is in it vs not?