Finding peace in your work

Today, I would like to answer a question that I have struggled with for a large part of the last seven years of my life: how can we be at peace with our work. It seems often, whether you're a student or not, that there is not enough time in the day.

I've always taken pride in my work ethic and ability to juggle countless responsibilities all the time. When I moved sophomore year of high school, I went from being a part of multiple sports, the band, and having a ton of friends, to being involved with nothing and not being able to connect with anyone. I channeled all of that time and loneliness into trying to build a business, getting involved in local business groups, and running hackathons for students in Chicago. I was busy and I liked that.

I took this same mentality to college. I eased up a bit and made a lot more friends, but I still took pride in doing more than most people. It was draining, but I got some sort of weird enjoyment from having my calendar booked from the moment I woke up to the moment I slept. Even though I was over committed, it never seemed enough. Even with all the productivity hacks, self help books, and optimizations, it still seems that we are not able to do enough. Any moment of idleness is met with a rush of guilt where our inner monologue starts to question why we aren't doing something productive. And even if you are working all waking hours of the day, your todo list never stops growing.

I can tell you for a fact that this is not how God wants us to live, at least not all the time. Yes, there will be seasons of our lives where we ought to work harder than others. Being a student is one of those seasons. But, God does not want us to derive our worth from our work, and moreover, He does not want us to feel less than for not being able to keep up.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, God uses Solomon to help answer this question.

For background,

• Solomon was the son of King David.
• He is known for his wisdom and wrote the book of Proverbs. In the Bible he is known as the wisest man and from reading Ecc and Proverbs, I'd have to agree.
• Solomon was not perfect, just like us, but God used him to teach us about how God's wisdom works.

Ecc. 1:2-4

Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

Solomon points out, rather blatantly, that everything is meaningless, highlighting a bleak reality of life, but I think especially if you believe in God...

If there is a God, and if that God is Jesus Christ and His will is absolute and that we can be with Him for an eternity, then what is the rush to do anything if we can live forever? If we're going to live forever, then this life suddenly becomes less meaningful.

Solomon goes on to proclaim between Chapters two and six that everything is in vain, it is like chasing the wind:

• Trying to build a legacy is vain since no one remembers the former generations.
• Wisdom is meaningless, because with wisdom comes sorrow and grief, and just like the foolish, the wise don't escape death or being forgotten.
• Pleasure is meaningless. As Solomon points out in Ecc. 2:1-11, he denied himself nothing and was the most powerful man in Israel, and yet it still didn't bring meaning.
• I'd think about it like this: you're trying to build a house with sand, no matter how hard you try, the house keeps falling in on itself. Whether you have a bucket or you have all the sand imaginable, it's still not able to stand. We think often times that having more stuff or more options will allow us to be happy, but it doesn't solve the root issue of not filling those voids in our hearts with God's grace and love.
• Working is meaningless because even if you work the hardest, make the most money, and buy everything, you still have to die and leave it to someone else who could lose it all.

No one can escape death and nothing on this world brings us meaning. Take it from someone who had everything they could have wanted, it still didn't fulfill. I think it's wise to look around us and ponder the question - why does everyone culture and group of people believe in some version of a God? Throughout time and throughout the Earth - everyone has worshipped something. One could argue this is because until the scientific method was created, we needed ways to explain away things like why it rains or why the stars shined. But if that was the case, religiosity would decline consistently generation after generation. But it hasn’t, it’s grown. I would conclude that it's because we were made to worship, God designed us with the desire for a relationship with Him built-in. When we ignore that feature of our existence, we deny ourselves from ever operating at a 100%. The void we feel without God is not a defect within our core being, but rather a part that was never meant to go missing.

Solomon's points about laboring or toiling is particularly useful to understand the human condition today. While I would suspect that most Christ followers would agree that pleasure and acquiring more and more knowledge would be meaningless, they probably still find themselves working day and night without any peace for the work they are doing. I would suspect, they, like myself, are still worried about doing more, achieving more, making more money, and being better - even if all that striving and toil comes from a good place.

But as God said - it's meaningless.

So what do we do?

If everything is meaningless, why do anything at all? For most of Ecc, you could confuse Solomon for a true nihilist. But this is far from the contrary.

In Ecc 12:13-14, the last two verses of the book, Solomon lays out exactly what we should do with all of these realizations of our lives:

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

The one thing that we can rest in knowing is meaningful is keeping the commandments of God and executing His Will, and to me this means discipling others, sharing the Gospel, caring for our neighbors, taking care of our family, tithing, and working out our salvation. And while I'd say we ought to do these things as often as we can, the reality of the world when Jesus roamed and now, is that we're doing to be caught up in things that don't really feel like are serving God. Doing homework, going to a concert, eating food, working a job as a store clerk, or any number of what I like to call, neutral things. Of course, not all of us can be pastors or missionaries. Most of us are going to go out in the world and do rather non-religious things. Isn't that meaningless?

God gives us an answer.

Ecc. 9

Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

I find this absolutely beautiful, God, in the midst of our rather meaningless lives has given us this reward (or "lot" as it is translated in NKJV): to drink wine, eat food, and enjoy our spouse because He has already approved of what we are going to do.

I have felt stuck many times in thinking "what is God's plan for me? what does he want me to do? which job does he want me at?" The answer, often, is actually up to us. God just wants us doing something, and serving him through whatever that is! And while this can be troubling when we want a direct answer, it should also bring us comfort knowing that God is happy with either decision, as long as we do the best work we can.

And, that whatever we do, do it with all our might. Whether we're an accountant, an engineer, minister, or doctor - do the best you can and give it all your effort. Why? Because when we die, there will not be any work. Jesus was a carpenter before He took upon himself the mantle of Messiah, and I can probably bet He was one of the best carpenters.

What is everyone here trying to do? It's okay if you don't know.

How can you serve God with this career?

So to recap, to find peace with our work God tells us:

1. Recognize it is all meaningless anyways without Christ, because with Him at our center, suddenly everything becomes immensely meaningful, because we do it for Him. You're worth is not tied up in here, your salvation had nothing to do with your deeds... rather, it was Christ's work on the cross that saves.
2. Enjoy your life because you received it as a gift from God. Eat good food, drink good drink, and have fun with your spouse and family.
3. Follow all of His commandments. We can rest in knowing this is exactly what He wants.
4. And whatever work we do, do it with all our might.

How do we apply this to our lives right now? Here is what I would recommend, start by prioritizing the things you know God wants of you, things like attending a bible study, fellowship, going to church, praying and reading as often as you can. Then, add in your absolute must have priorities. Make enough time for those first, enough time to focus on them when you need to and do your best work. I know that when I overbook myself, I can't give myself fully to any one thing. And lastly, be diligent, extremely diligent of saying no to distractions. I'm not talking about things like social media - I mean your desires. We are our own worst enemies, be careful to not follow every pursuit or desire your heart has. Be focused on God first, then your true priorities, and then anything else.