ENJOY GOD’S GIFT OF WORK

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

From the time I was a small child, I had a desire to be a nurse – not just any nurse, but an OR [Operating Room] nurse. I pursued that career, and, except for about six years, spent my entire adult life working at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in various capacities in either the main operating room or outpatient surgery center.

Solomon writes:

            What profit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen

the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

…I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long

as they live; and also that every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the

            good of all his labor – it is the gift of God [Eccl 3: 9-10, 12-13, Amplified Bible].

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed what I did (of course, there was the occasional difficult coworker or obnoxious surgeon or sad outcome or diagnosis). But I loved working with the kids and their parents; I loved being a part of the surgical teams; and I loved the technical aspect and opportunity to work with my hands.

He has made everything…appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity

            (a sense of divine purpose) in the human heart [vs 11a].

There is nothing quite so rewarding as having worked hard at a job that you love because the Lord gave it to you to do as part of your divine purpose in His Kingdom. To know that, at the end of the day, I have helped or influenced someone (be it a patient, a parent, a coworker) for the Lord in a way that they see that I know Jesus, is truly a gift from God.

Now that I am retired, I am enjoying God’s “reassignment” of my time to work in ministry He calls me to today. He has not put me on a shelf as if I have no further use – I have a task yet to do for which I can “rejoice and do good as long as I live.”

I pray that you are enjoying God’s gift of work He has given you, or if you are still seeking where you are to serve through your work, that God will reveal that to you in His time.