When Work Feels Like Work – Week Four

Work. How do you feel when you hear the word? I don’t know about you, but contemplating “work” doesn’t usually fill me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Even though I love my job, “work” can tend to have a negative connotation. But work is not all bad—quite the opposite. Work done well is fulfilling, challenging, life-changing, and powerful. 

In week three of our series, we looked at how frustration is a normal part of work, even if you are in the exact right place. Today, we will explore how work is an opportunity to cultivate, influence, and transform, no matter where we find ourselves. 

Too often, I have believed the lie that to make an impact, I have to be somewhere else. One day… when God opens the door, when I have a different job, when I’m leading more people, when I have more money… 

But here’s the exciting thing about work – work is part of God’s design for you and me. In any place, whatever resources I have, I can work. And that work is a way that I can reflect His image. 

In Genesis one, the first recorded words after the creation of man and woman are, “God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'” (Genesis 1:28 NASB) From the time Adam and Eve drew their first breath, God’s blessing was present, and He appointed them to cultivate the world. 

I love how Timothy Keller expresses it in his book Every Good Endeavor, Connecting Your Work to God’s Work, “We are called to stand in for God here in the world, exercising stewardship over the rest of creation in his place as vice-regents. We share in doing the things that God has done in creation – bringing order out of chaos, creatively building a civilization out of the material of physical and human nature, caring for all that God has made. This is a major part of what we were created to be.”

Instead of looking for a perfectly aligned plan and place to reflect God’s image, we simply need to look around us. Is there chaos that I can bring order to? Where can I nurture and care for others? What needs cultivation? Do I see an opportunity to design or imagine a better future?

One of my favorite Bible characters is Joseph. After his family sold him into slavery, he works diligently. Though still a slave, he is given a position of prominence. However, despite his faithful service, he soon finds himself in prison. Instead of giving up or feeling sorry for himself, Joseph works with excellence. The Bible tells us, “The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.” (Genesis 39:23)

Joseph challenges me. 

• What am I doing with the opportunities God has put in my hands? 
• Do people see God through my work? Is He reflected in what I do?
• Are things better as a result of my work? Or am I only maintaining the status quo? 
• Is the quality of my work excellent, or do I make excuses?
• Am I aware of God’s presence in any and every place I find myself?
• Can I prosper even under the pressure of challenging seasons?

Like Joseph, you and I have the opportunity to cultivate, influence, and transform, no matter where we are. Reflecting God does require ideal circumstances; it requires embracing today. 

We live in a broken world in desperate need of hope. And we have the power to bring that hope. Each day, no matter the task before us, our work is an opportunity for ministry. Ministry is not limited to certain professions or positions. Instead, it is reflecting God’s image through faithfulness, love, and excellence. 

Isaiah 61 beautifully illustrates Jesus’ calling and ministry. He brings good news, sets the captives free, comforts those who mourn, restores the earth, rebuilds ancient ruins, and adorns God’s people.

“For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as the garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” (Isaiah 61:11)

One beautiful trait of our God is that He renews and restores. He takes broken things and makes them beautiful. He works in unlikely situations and through unsuspecting people. 

And we can join Him in His work.