When work no longer feels like a blessing

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For me, it happened

As I was working on a Friday,

Though it felt like a Tuesday.

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Casually filling in cells in excel sheets.

Meeting people in LED screens,

Jugs of water to keep me in my seat,

While chilling’ to my fave lo-fi beats.

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Working on make-shift tables,

Hoping thy internet connection,

Wouldn’t render me dis-able.

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At the peak of my productivity,

I gasped for breath,

My thoughts led me to captivity

As I grasp ideas of death. 

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These passing questions –

I usually accommodate at night,

But then they often interrupt,

Even when it’s broad daylight. 

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“Do these still even matter?”

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The doom of COVID hits differently,

When someone close to you gets it.

I only felt helpless.

It was a Friday,

And I was still typing my hours away in these excel sheets, 

It didn’t  make sense as of the moment. 

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Breathe in. Breathe out.

It was clear to me that,

We have not fully figured out our lives.

It’s still a mystery to us –

How the world is both beautiful and fallen.

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When work no longer feels like a blessing,

perhaps it would do us great good,

If we dare to hear the one who despairs. —

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EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS

Ecclesiastes 1: 2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless! 3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

HATING THE WORK I USED TO LOVE

Ecclesiastes 2: 8 b I had everything a man could desire! 18 I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. 19 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless! 20 So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.

LABORIOUS DAYS, RESTLESS NIGHTS 

21 Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy. 22 So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? 23 Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.

WHO GIVES ME THE CAPACITY TO ENJOY WORK?

24 So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?[b] 26 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

WORKING HARD, STILL ALONE

Ecclesiastes 4: 7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. 8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

CALLED TO ENDURE & ENJOY

Ecclesiastes 5: 18 Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. 19 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. 20 God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.

A CALL TO REMEMBER WHO WE TEND TO FORGET

Ecclesiastes 11:9 Young people,[d] it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. 10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 12: 4 Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

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FINAL CONCLUSION

13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion:

Fear God and obey his commands,

for this is everyone’s duty.

14 God will judge us for everything we do,

including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

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When work no longer feels like a blessing, take heart. Work ultimately makes sense if we give our ‘meaningless’ jobs to the One who makes it meaning-ful. Endure work. Enjoy work. Fear God. Your faithful labor is never in vain.