- For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. -
One of my favorite chores is washing dishes. No, I’m not a masochist or in any other way deranged.
I just like how the activity focuses me. The warm water, the simple decisions, the visual feedback of cleaning, all combines to create a sense of accomplishment and meditation.
Okay, maybe I’m not fully sane.
What’s the point here? Work can focus us in a strange way. It can remove a sense of doing despite acting.
You probably notice this with your favorite chore or perhaps on a home project that causes your concerns to fade.
Your still you, but for a few minutes or hours that seems to matter a lot less. The goal you are performing or reaching for becomes paramount.
What are you going to eat for dinner? Are you going to be happy with your life when you turn fifty? Who cares.
Sometimes, we enter that place because we enjoy the chore or perhaps we just fall into it. Maybe you don’t particularly like mowing the grass, but today that distaste fell away.
If we are truly lucky, sometimes that activity is aligned with the work we perform at our job.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a general contractor. I build big buildings, remodel hospitals, and make old rooms fresh and exciting.
The major thing I’ve learned? Everything is incredibly complicated. Seriously, I have more discussions about doors with clients than you can imagine.
As a GC, we have a man on site, a superintendent, who runs the whole job. They are the hands and feet of building the project and know more than anyone in our office about how stuff gets done.
Now, there are good and bad superintendents, but some of them are more than either of those two terms.
They “are” superintendents. That title doesn’t just define them when they show up to work; it is who they are at a drive-thru, at home, or walking into Wal-Mart.
I know men who haven’t graduated high school write a diagram on a whiteboard to explain to an engineer how their design won’t work in the field.
Of course, the next thing they draw is the solution. The engineer is more than happy to agree.
What’s the point? Their life passes in a true joy, being who they are and finding enjoyment in their toil.
Now, what does that mean for us? Should we all search tirelessly for that career that makes our heart sing? That fills us with purpose?
Maybe. Not all of our callings from God are careers. Some of us find it in an activity that God gets great glory in, but no one would be willing to pay us.
Think about missionaries. Sure, people support them, but it’s not like they are overflowing in cash.
Most of us have families. Are we supposed to just deny them by constantly doing what it is “God” wants us to do?
How can letting our family suffer be what God wants?
Here’s the point, Ecclesiastes is not a self-help book. Nor is the Bible. Sometimes we want to feed those ideas into it, to make our therapy, relaxation, and self-motivation all seem a part of it.
What are you to do? Accept your lot and rejoice in your toil.
What do I mean? Perhaps this: accept what God has given you (spiritual gifts, passions, and livelihood) and rejoice in your work.
Will those line up? Probably not.
Who decided they wouldn’t? Can you trust Him?
With that trust, you can have joy.
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