Work, work, work

This past academic year, I spent a lot of time reflecting on the place of work in the Christian life. I had to think and pray about the thing I found myself doing so much of the time. I held a part-time job, an internship out of town, and a full load of classes in a field I'd never studied - I wasn't bored. I was utterly overwhelmed first semester. Can't tell you the number of days I dragged myself into God's presence and prayed for Him to give me the strength to get up and do it all again another day; He always did.

If I 'feel' overworked, sometimes, this is pointing to a need to step away from work. But it could mean that I am called to look at my work in a new way and to hand it over to God because this surrender is what holds the key to me being able to do all the work that God has for me to do, that is, the Father's will. I recommend the chapter in Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot on work, "The Discipline of Work."

If anything, this year the Lord told me to 'Get busy! Get moving - do something!' I had lots to keep me busy; labor was on my 'plate' of life, so I had to let Him teach me how to be grateful for it all.  He has taught me how to thank Him for the labor He gives me, how without gratitude and faith, I cannot carry the Lord's "easy yolk" and "light burden."  I think a misconception that people have is that us having to work is a consequence of the Fall or that working hard is a kind of suffering when in reality, work existed before the Fall - man was made to work just as man was made to rest. What IS a consequence of the Fall is the struggle we face in balancing work and rest and the way in which we humans work and relate to work. But labor was a part of God's original design and is a part of who He is and what He does. We are made in His image, and so we are called to labor like Him and in relationship with Him, which is really fun sometimes!

There's a lot more I might say and still want to know about this topic. This post is just a meandering meditation/reflection on the area. Some of the Scriptures that have meant something to me this year on the topic have been:

-Genesis - meditating on how the Lord creates everything - that was work, and I've no doubt God delighted in it.
-Haggai 2 - the rebuilding of the temple - very inspiring and hard work that was only accomplished when everyone stopped focusing on their own work and focused on God's. The Holy Spirit inspired individuals to drop their own individual works and instead gave the people inspiration and strength to work, and work hard, toward the establishment of the temple.
-Revelation - part of what we see in Heaven is that God's people are "serving" Him day and night before His throne. When I read this some years ago, I was shocked and pondered. God's people aren't laying around on a beach drinking cool drinks in Heaven; they're worshiping and serving Him, for all eternity. Their work is a part of their worship; there isn't a separation between the two.

Speaking of the connection between work and worship, here is one last thought about surrender, about our inner disposition and how that can so transform our dull labor into restful, worshipful labor: Thomas Merton in No Man Is An Island writes this about work:

"With a right intention, you quietly face the risk of losing the fruit of your work. With a simple intention you renounce the fruit before you even begin. You no longer even expect it. Only at this price can your work also become a prayer."

What's our intention in our work? Do we have one, with every task we are given or take on? Do we aim for 'right' or for the 'simple' intention that Merton implies is the better intention? I take Merton's 'simple' intention to mean this: that we are made to work simply because we love and are always aiming to love and worship God. We are free to work very hard and to even take pleasure in it if we do so with this deep sense of rest, love, and adoration dwelling in our hearts and minds, that which, in Heaven, we will have in full. Merton's idea of a 'simple intention' is another way of saying that we are called to surrender our work to God, not even expecting 'fruit' from it but for God who can bear that fruit.

This is total abandonment to God's will. The paradox, of course, is that when we cease to expect fruit from our work, when our work becomes a prayer, this is the same moment in which our work bears the most fruit and when we are most free to work for God.

Many times, I asked Him this year, "Remind me, why am I doing this?" when I could have chosen to pray, "Remind me, I am doing this for You." There's no precedence for my "why's" because my "yes" is sufficient. I ask "Why" when I doubt, and I say "yes" when I have faith. With one year down and one to go in my graduate program, a year that will be again filled with: classes in a field I'm still just getting to know, another internship out of town doing new things, new ministries and services, and living in a place I've never lived, He has prepared me for more - more practice at setting aside my "why's", more practice at turning over my weakness, and more opportunities to see His Spirit at work in my life and others'. Last year, I was dreading it all. This time, I marvel at, thank, and praise Him for the work HE has quietly done in me, so much so that I am so looking forward to the adventure and cannot wait for it all to begin again. With His help, I know it will be a lot of fun and that He will be glorified! :)