Work Choices: Are You Satisfied? - Part 1

So many people detest their work and yearn for an opportunity to make changes. Others shift the emphasis from work to leisure because work fails to  provide satisfaction. Some individuals in their mid-life years seek change by taking dangerous risks because of disappointment and burn-out with their work.

In Luke 12:16-21 Jesus conveys a story about a farmer who became wealthy, but because of a misguided attitude toward work and leisure, he failed to reap the harvest of his labor. Work and leisure fail to bring satisfaction and meaning when God is excluded from our choices. God's desire is to be included so we can feel blessed and enriched by him.

Permit yourself to see work as God's gift and as an avenue for expressing your love to Christ Jesus. He not only saves us from our sins and but saves us from negative attitudes that ruin our joy and happiness. Ecclesiastes 2:26 is instructive. "To the one who pleases God, he gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness." Seek to please God with all your heart.  

Burned Out or Blessed? - Part 3

Jesus told a parable in Matthew thirteen about a farmer who went out to sow his seeds, which fell on four different types of soil. Imagine this farmer walking through his field sowing the seeds. Some seeds fell on a well-traveled path comprised of hard packed soil. These seeds had no chance to get planted, so birds came and ate them.

When work is seen as having little value except for a paycheck, feelings of stagnation eventually replace a positive attitude that made work endurable. What you bring to the work that God can use to influence others gives work a special purpose. If our attitude is centered only on a paycheck then encouragement will diminish like the seeds the birds ate.

Coming to terms with who you can be in Christ Jesus and how that is passed on to others can make a  difference in the value you place on work. You're  encouraged to be committed as if working for Christ Jesus, for he is at work to activate his good purpose in you. With this attitude, you can sow seeds that yield a good harvest.  

Burned Out or Blessed? - Part 2

How would you describe your attitude about the work you do each day? Is it a drudgery or a blessing? Is work a place where you do as little as possible just to keep your job? Do you have enthusiasm for your work? It's true that some tasks are mundane and not challenging, but the attitude you have about work doesn't have to be negative.

Is it possible to perceive work as God's gift to you, rather than punishment to make life miserable? How is it possible for work to be seen as a blessing from God who loves you? Work brings into focus an acute awareness of choices that determines what level of influence you will have on fellow workers and those we serve.

If you've reached mid-life, consider the knowledge and wisdom you can pass on freely to the next generation. You may have to force yourself to count the ways you've been blessed by God in your work. Next, thank God for his blessings by   permitting yourself to enjoy the fruits of your labor. This is possible when you view your work as a gift from God.  

Burned Out or Blessed? - Part 1

Just about everyone eventually gets to a place in their everyday work experience where change would be a welcome relief from the routines that have long lost their challenge. Even the rewards of safety and security of everyday work routines do not compensate for the absence of heartfelt meaning and purpose for how life is spent.

Working only for financial security and recognition may eventually result in mental and physical burn-out, a major cause of crisis for people in their mid-life years. Each person's core being, that part of the self that needs affirmation and nurturing, must be in harmony with the way life is lived. To be out of harmony creates displeasure with just about every aspect of life.

However making sweeping changes during mid-life may not be productive.  It's beneficial to present needed changes to the redemptive power and guidance of Christ Jesus. He will give wisdom and direction for any needed changes. I am confident that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.