"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." - Ecclesiastes 2:17
As we continue our study through the book, Every Good Endeavor, we're still in the section titled, "Our Problems with Work." This part may not leave us feeling particularly encouraged about our work lives, but that's intentional. It invites us to confront the brokenness of work in a world that doesn't follow God's design. Even when we pursue our passions and achieve success, many of us will still wrestle with a lingering sense of frustration or meaninglessness in our work. This month, we'll use the book of Ecclesiastes where the author struggles with finding the meaning of life (including the purpose of work).
The book of Ecclesiastes shows us the uniqueness and necessity of God. There is nothing on this earth that is sufficient enough to give us a meaningful life. While we might get the instant gratification from it, long-term, it won't be enough to give our life meaning. The things people tend to focus on in life include work and achievement, love and pleasure, and/or knowledge and learning. While none of these things are necessarily bad, they are all fragile– in an instant these things can fall apart. It isn't good to build our foundation in life on things that can change in an instant. What our life should be built on is dependence on God—He can give our life meaning and purpose. Without God in your life, you can be the most successful person and still struggle with the feeling that life is meaningless.
In the above section of Ecclesiastes, the author is talking about the pursuit of achievement through hard work. Again, while it isn't bad to work hard towards goals, it will not bring you meaning to life. It is in our nature to want to make an impact. The impact can be seen in different ways: personal recognition, making a difference in our field, or making the world a better place in some way. While seeing the impact of our work can give us the instant satisfaction, we find in Ecclesiastes 2 that even our results of our work will be wiped away overtime; therefore, we shouldn't build our life towards earthy impacts.
Ecclesiastes isn't a sunshine and rainbows type of book. It is concluded that whatever you do in life, even if your work produces fruit, is still pointless if "life under the sun" is all there is.
The good news? For followers of Christ, there is more to life!
Another trap people fall into is convincing themselves that they are doing the hard work to support their family. While your work can help support your family, you need to be cautious that it isn't actually pushing them away. We don't want to be putting everything into work and sacrificing the things that are more important in life!
People today have more of an opportunity to choose their line of work than in the past. While it seems like a good thing, it ironically is one of the reasons so many people find their work to be unsatisfying. Why is this the case?
There was a study done from a Stanford professor on students and recent graduates and here is what was found. David Brooks wrote about the unspoken assumptions from this study:
"Many of these students seem to have a blinkered view of their options. There's crass but affluent investment baking. There's the poor but noble nonprofit world. And then there is the world of high-tech start-ups, which magically provides money and coolness simultaneously. But there was little interest in or awareness of the ministry, the military, the academy, government service or the zillion other sectors. Furthermore, few students showed any interest in working for a company that actually makes products…"
It might be great that we have the ability to choose our line of work; however, it's leaving people to not choose jobs that fit their abilities, talents, and capabilities. God has made all of us unique with different gifts, but we're not always using them. Instead, people are choosing work that they believe will help boost their self-image. Choosing work strictly to boost your self-image (whether it be making more money or having a "cool" job) often leads to dissatisfaction or meaninglessness in work overtime.
The Stanford study found that young people are seeing the process of career selection as more of a choice of their identity versus what they are gifted and passionate about. We've talked about in previous blogs in this series that God didn't design work to be our identity. How should we be choosing our work?
- First, you want to choose work that you can do well in (fits our gifts and capabilities).
- Next, you want to choose work that benefits others – since the main purpose of work is to serve the world.
- Finally, you want to be able to benefit the field of work you are in itself.
Satisfaction in work in a fallen world is a miraculous gift of God! We must however, seek balance between work and the rest of our lives. There must be both toil and tranquility. But how do we attain a balanced life (especially in a world that focuses a lot on work)?
- We must recognize and renounce our tendency to make idols of money and power.
Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. - Ecclesiastes 4:4
- We must put relationships in their proper place– even if that means making less money.
one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. - Ecclesiastes 4:8
- Understand that the ultimate source of the tranquility we seek is found in Jesus!
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30
Without the gospel, we would be toiling to make a name for ourselves. Isn't it wonderful that because of what Jesus did for us work doesn't have to be meaningless?
