TCBC Family and Friends, 

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Trusting God in Our Work

        In the beginning, God gave humanity a task, He put us in the Garden of Eden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15b). Work is one of the purposes God gave us from the beginning. It is no surprise then, that work is of great significance in our lives. However, Adam and Eve sinned, leading to brokenness throughout the world including in our relationship with work. When God tells Adam about the consequences of his sin, He says, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread ...” (Genesis 3:17b-19a). The joy of work was now mixed with pain and struggle.

        Our struggles with work are often associated with three different feelings, apathy, futility, and frustration. Apathy is often described as the “rat race”. We feel like work is repetitive, meaningless, and drains our soul. Lily Tomlin hit the nail on the head when she quipped, “The trouble with the rate race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” This leads to feelings of emptiness and lethargy where work becomes nothing more than going through the motions.  

Those who struggle with futility believe the work they do is important, but it is never enough. The harder they work, the more futile it seems and so they work harder in hopes of finally feeling successful, but the breakthrough never comes. The cycle repeats until work becomes consuming as they chase after a goal forever out of reach. This leads to feelings of hopelessness and exhaustion where work becomes an ever growing burden.

Frustration is different from futility in that the struggle seems outside of us rather than inside of us. Nothing goes right in the work we do. Coworkers don’t pull their weight, the boss is overbearing, the needed tool is missing, the office is too hot ... every day work seems to be filled with a new set of frustrations waiting to be discovered. This leads to feelings of anger and irritation where work becomes a daily battle.

               If you are struggling in these ways, I encourage you to offer your work to God, along with all your faults and failings, and be satisfied in His grace. Here is a poetic prayer you can offer to God today:

O Lord my God, high and holy,

I come to you meek and lowly,

to offer you, the work of my hands

powerless and pitiful, before you it stands.

With one word, you created the world,

with one word, your healing unfurls,

you alone, can mend the heart,

in you alone, my hope I impart.

Take my meager works, O Lord,

grow them as much as your grace affords,

they are not worthy of anything,

but by your favor, eternal blessings they bring.

For His glory,

Pastor TJ

Cell: 410-303-5190