In the last ‘Grace for the Journey’ article, I wrote about how creation is God’s first act of grace toward us humans. I ended with a teaser that I would write this time about work as a grace. I know it may not always feel like it, but the gift of work is indeed an act of grace from God. Consider that in both creation stories, God assigns responsibility to the humans. In the first creation story, God gives humans dominion over all that God has created. In the second creation story, God gives Adam and Eve the responsibility of caring for the garden. Genesis 2:15 tells us: “The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it.”
The grace in this is how it invites us to participate with God in the work of caring for all creation. The act of creating was work. The first thing we learn about God in the Bible, then, is that God works. God creates. God sustains. God redeems. God protects. God teaches. God does all kind of things that qualify as work. So by giving us work responsibilities, God is saying, “Be like me.” God is entrusting us with important work.
Work of all sorts is grace because it connects us to the God who works. Sometimes, this truth is quite evident. Other times, we really have to look for the grace in the work we do. Our work can be stressful or monotonous or all-consuming or utterly boring. We may long for other kinds of work than what we are now doing. It is fine to get frustrated with our work environment and even to want to change it. However, if we can use our work as a means of honoring God, then whatever we do is grace-filled.
Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people.” Brother Lawrence, who lived in the 17th century, took this to heart in his own life. Everything he did, whether it was washing the dishes, baking the bread, or any of his other duties in the monastery, he did it for God. He used his time at work to be in prayer to God so that whatever he was doing, he was being drawn closer and closer to his true Master. He wrote, “We must try to converse with God in little ways while we do our work; not in memorized prayer, not trying to recite previously formed thoughts. Rather, we should purely and simply reveal our hearts as the words come to us.”
When we follow the advice of Paul and Brother Lawrence, our work takes on a lightness. We discover that whatever we are doing, God is present. When we do this, we become a blessing to others as our attitude is uplifted and as we shine the light of God’s love on all those around us.
Work is a gift of grace from God. Take some time during your workday to offer God praise and thanksgiving for using you in whatever way God chooses through the work you do. As you do so, I suspect that you will begin to see how God is at work right there beside you.
Rev. Joyce Day
If you would like to view past editions of Grace for the Journey, follow this link: https://sounddistrictnc.org/category/grace-for-the-journey/