Ever wonder why you did this at one time or another? You know, decide to be a BUSINESS OWNER. Or take the position with a company that has great promises and benefits. And maybe it was even the ultimate, a full-time paid ministry position with the Church or Christian Organization. Awe yes. But now you find yourself looking in from the outside.
You can work for someone else and make a certain salary; the headaches aren’t yours! You can own your own business and be your own boss! Or, what better place to work than heaven on earth, a Christian business?
There are challenges, headaches, and stress in every one of the above situations. See if this sounds familiar…
Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
God’s Word Gets Tainted
God’s Word tells us that there is satisfaction in work and that it is a means of provision. God even mandated that fulfillment be found in it. Work is biblical. But like everything, humankind has tainted it with pride, envy, greed, corruption, and exploiting others (employers and employees alike). So instead of a fulfilling act of labor, a labor of love, the workplace has become viewed and characterized as a place of frustration and stress. As Simon Sinek calls it, the finite game. Ever heard the expression,
“The grass is greener on the other side!”
Of course, we all have. People are always looking for something better because of ‘how bad’ they have it. I don’t know about you, but I get tired of all the excuses and reasons why it is so bad. Including my own! So you find yourself on the outside looking in and wondering, “Is the grass greener on the other side?”
So remember the reason you did this, the reason you started your business, or the reason you took the position or job. It is called, “The Why.” Why did you do this? It is because you had a dream that God put on your heart and a purpose He gave you for doing it. If not, maybe you need to re-evaluate.
Do not let ‘getting home’ be what drives you so you can relax and get away from the stress. Not saying that is a bad thing. But let your faith in where God can take you from here be your peace and rest.
Three Easy Steps
- Determine what it is God put on your heart to do.
- Let God direct your steps.
- And then fulfill His purpose in and through you.
There’s More To This Life – take a moment and be encouraged by Steven Curtis Chapman…
Challenge of the Week
The challenge for you? Your faith in God, in Christ, is your Sabbath, your rest. It is your faith, not a certain day of your week, a certain job or business, or a person that is your rest. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). So will you be in the Word this week to build your faith, thus having rest in Christ? So be it.
