You better work.
Guest post by Crawford Gupton (aka my baby daddy)
3 minute read
Hello everyone, I’m Crawford Gupton, Mary Clay’s husband, and I think about work... a lot. Mary Clay gave me the opportunity to share what I’ve recently discovered about jobs and work, so thank you for being here.
Let’s start off with some questions I’ve bounced around in my head.
What is work, and why do we do it?
How do we know what work we should be doing?
How do we know whether we are serving the Lord through working?
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the answers to these questions can be found at the New York Times all-time best seller, The Bible. In the first chapter of this book, we are introduced to God and what work He is doing. We find Him creating. He created the heavens and the earth. Did you hear that? He is a creative. Creatives (like my bride) make things out of nothing. He worked His creativity into building us in His image and likeness, both man and woman. Then He gave us work to do. He delegated work for us to take care of the earth and to cultivate the resources here to survive and thrive.
In sum, God designed us to work.
Whew... now I know I am supposed to work, designed to work and need to work with His creation and resources here… but there are a whole lot of things on earth to tinker with, so how do I know which field to enter? How do I know what work is best suited for my unique, God-given makeup, and how can I serve Him while working?
These questions are also answered in Genesis.
God created us and gave us instructions on caring for His creation, but we were deceived and did the one thing we weren’t supposed to (bad apple tree) and brought sin into a harmonious place. This total failure messed up clarity and pure motives in our choices in practically everything we do, and it just really stinks. We make hundreds of choices a day for a multitude of reasons (ambition, money, accolades, pride, etc.). Although many of our decisions can and do glorify God, there are still selfish aspects to them. For example, if I feed the homeless, it is a good thing and certainly God has told us to take care of the least of these. But even in our best service, our sin skews us in making the perfectly purely motivated decision. The beautiful thing is that even in our sinful desires and choices, God redeems and uses our imperfect decisions to take care of His place and to draw us into a deeper relationship and understanding of who He is.
So here you are -- you decided to be a stay-at-home mom (a very hard job, might I add), a lawyer, a doctor, a sales rep, or an investment banker, but you don’t know the best way to serve God while working in that particular field. Sometimes it might feel like the only way to honor God in your field is to tell everyone around you about Christ and start a weekly bible study. Both of these are good things, and following what the Spirit prompts is never wrong, but these aren’t the only ways to serve the Lord through work.
We are each built with specific gifts, some are running a bible study, others are great at telling others about Christ, others might be amazing at apologetics. All that to say, if you are a believer in Christ, did you know you are honoring God in your work simply by participating in His creation? God is using our work to teach us how to love Him more and to love our neighbor/co-worker/children/family and manager like He loves them.
The deceiver tries to tell me the projects I am working on will be fulfilling enough to finally rest one day. Projects like raising children, painting the masterpiece, or successfully building a business. But the work you and I are doing today will only be completed on the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). If my goals aren’t met and the masterpiece never gets finished, can I really trust that even though my expectations weren’t met, the Lord is still using all things together for good for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8: 28)?
Until I am with Him in eternity there will be toil at work, and oftentimes, I won’t know if I am in the right place using my gifts to the best of their ability. I do know one thing though - God doesn’t waste anything. He is using our activity, and our struggles!, to push us to an even deeper reliance on Him.
Lord I come to you praying in Jesus name. Work is difficult and tiring. I chase our culture's fleeting promise that accomplishments, money and recognition will bring me peace. I need you in my heart and mind to help me deeply understand that what I am doing here and now is helping your creation. And although I may not see the fruit of my labor until I am with you in Heaven, I can learn from what I am doing right now in the field. I can learn more about you, my deep need for you and how to love others. I want to trust you more… please help me do that. Proverbs 16:9 says we plan our course, but the Lord establishes our steps. Make that real for me today. In Jesus name, Amen.
Scripture for the week:
S/M: Genesis 1
T: Philippians 1:6
W: Romans 8:28
Th: Jeremiah 29:11
F: 1 Corinthians 15:58
S: Proverbs 3:5-6
Further Reading:
Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller