After several weeks of job-hunting, I got to understand that CVs, cover letters, and job interviews, especially job interviews, are more of performances than fact-stating conversations. Looking for a job is art on its own, combining several disciplines like writing, marketing, story-telling, time-management, mind-reading…
Take my word on that last one !
Whenever I sought to do anything else to reduce my stress level, I got immediately worn out knowing fully well my hobbies also took me a substantial amount of time, e.g. writing this article took me two days, an extra day for proofreading, two other days to translate and a last one to proofreading the translation.
Why couldn’t I snap my fingers and things get done? Why are meaningful activities always onerous?
I started really looking into various things and found indeed that nothing comes easy, even coming from the most skilled of us… Especially coming from the most skilled of us. Because paradoxically, those who are experts in a craft take more time for the realisation of a project than amateurs. So yes, everything we do is not just work. It’s hard work.
Consequently, in months, there hasn’t been a place I find more comfortable than the slot between mattress and quilt. I will lie there thinking about Heaven, convincing myself it will be N times cosier than the world as it is. After all, one of the Latin roots of the word work is tripalium, which was an instrument of torture!
But is that so? In Heaven shall we sing Kum Ba Yah to the Lord all eternity with the angels and do nothing else? So far the closest we have been to Heaven was the garden of Eden and work was unquestionably part of the lifestyle (Genesis 2:15). So maybe we should look at what work is all about?
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Work
Given the many meanings attributed to the word work, we will define it, from whom we know to be the source of everything, the original and pioneer worker, God, who worked six days so much so that He had to rest on the seventh (Genesis 2:2). From formless, empty, and dark Earth, He fashioned a conducive environment to harness mankind. He also made Heaven (Genesis 1:1), but we are not told what He did to it. As His dwelling place, maybe it suited Him alright the way it was, but void-like Earth wasn’t good enough for humans (Genesis 1:2) therefore He polished it. Hence, in its broadest sense:
Work is anything you do that gives or adds value to nought or jumble.
We, the image of God (Genesis 1:26), just like He did, work by transforming rawness into meaning, by taming chaos into order.
Types of work
This word Work in our Bibles comes from the Hebrew word Avodah, used in the Hebrew Bible in three ways, for the three reasons why people will engage themselves into any kind of work:
1. To express oneself
We call this Art. We work here to share our thoughts, our pain, our admiration, or again to town-cry a situation. In other words, we work here to ease ourselves. It sure can be enjoyable, but will require time and effort.
Art is any and everything, including our worship, which some of us do by playing an instrument, others by journaling, etc. It is limitless!
We see this in Exodus 8:1, wherein Avodah, is translated to worship in our English Bibles.
2. For others
This is Service. Just anything we do for the benefit of anyone but ourselves, like helping our neighbour move out, teaching our granny how to use her smartphone, volunteering for life-changing NGOs, etc. Again, it is limitless.
In Joshua 24:15, it is the word serve which translates Avodah.
3. To survive
For a great number of people, this is called having a Job. That activity we do so that we can assure for ourselves and our loved ones a meal, and a roof over our heads, Christmas presents, and a good self-esteem. Access to this kind of work may be limited depending on who we are, where we are, and what we believe in.
Unfortunately, we have equated our jobs to our level of happiness and the absence of one as a reason to be downcast.
I have pages of prayers all dedicated to my job search as if that was the primary reason I am alive. Therefore, I can’t deny sharing this article with you is helping me unlearn that.
Psalms 104:23. The word Work rightly translates Avodah.
Happiness is not a pursuit. It is a by-product.
Erik Cooper
Happiness may be the combination of these 3 aspects, i.e. being able to express oneself while attending to others and making money out of it. What else could you ask for? Doesn’t it start to sound more like Heaven than my previous thought? That is fulfilment rather than laziness? Because there is no escaping! Everyone works, at all times, and as long as we breathe. A baby trains itself to walk and talk, a student aims for good grades, an employee longs for at least keeping his job, a craftsman will always want a better piece than the previous, migrants give their all to remain in their adoptive countries… there is no end to this.
Not only is work unending, it also only seems simple from the outside. The keyword being seems, because it is a mirage.
I bet we all have the skill of singing under the shower, but the moment one goes professional about singing, they will start unimaginable routines like watching out for the pH of the foods they consume, dreading the flu, or again learning how to stand, sit and breathe.
Yeah!
How about the YouTube video I watched on being a hand model, whose basic job requirement is to have hands, right? Well, no! Would you believe the model in question leaves big-size bottles of moisturising cream in every room he steps into, to keep his hands forever moisturised? And that between every shoot he will keep his hands high above his head even if the break lasts for more than 10 minutes, so that blood won’t rush to his hand veins and make them too apparent on photos?
Insane!
But that is precisely the beauty in good work, paying attention to details and always giving your best shot. This is exactly the reason why good work is hard work.
Ways to work
However, if we are honest with ourselves, we want to do a good job without having to work hard. We will love to put in the least possible effort yet achieve grandeur.
Adam and Eve wanted that too. It made them fall, and us with them. They agreed to work alongside God, but wanted to do that on their own terms, turning enjoyable work into a complete thorn in the flesh. The plan for Man had always been to till the ground (Genesis 2:5) which in itself is not easy, but because of their waywardness, we all have to till a cursed ground (Genesis 3:17-19), making work harder and dislikable.
However, the problem isn’t hard work itself, but its endgame, because, in as much as it hurts me to write this, hard work can be enjoyable !
Imagine an apprentice chef, who works enormously hard to get his first Michelin star, supervised by a three-starred chef who keeps trampling over all his attempts for betterment. Now imagine that very apprentice chef cooking for his family and friends who have always believed in him. Same task, different achievements. One enjoyable, the other a little less.
Having a job is having a ministry
Thinking of Heaven as a holiday from this world and as the perfect ground for laziness is a wretched view fuelled by selfishness. Furthermore, thinking like this implies that our work matters only to us here and now on earth, and not to God who dwells in eternity.
Yes, Adam and Eve made things a little harder for us, but as I type these words God has already reconciled everything to Himself through Jesus (Colossians 1:19-20), even the work of our hands.
Remember, God knew about us way before we existed (Psalms 139:16), then He made Earth, and here we are. In conclusion, we are the ones who are part of His story and not the other way around. This is why whatever job we have, whatever activity we engage in, great or small, we have it in Him (Acts 17:28) and should do it for His Glory (Colossians 3:17).
When God worked, He made everything good (Genesis 1:31), not for Him, but for us. He did that, so He could share and give out His passion to and for us, not withholding anything. Through every sunset or any landscape picture, we enjoy His immense creativity. He added value to nothingness so that today we can benefit from it. Therefore, our work, as images of God (Genesis 1:26), should not be about ourselves but about others, to add something to their own nothingness.
Like God, we have the ability to exert our will over creation. We remake the world every day and in every way, and we all do, even if we do not all make it to talk shows. We evolved from hunter-gatherers to moon travellers. Not only that, but we take pictures of places farther than far and have insights into things smaller than small. We are fashioning the world, and that is okay because it has always been God’s plan. It is how and why we do it that makes the difference, and deciding on this is an individual call.
In choosing whichever option, remember that when the world will “end”, it won’t disappear. It will simply be transcended alongside our mortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-58), and so will our skills and everything we have done here. Heaven will be a society, just N times better than the ones we evolve in today (Revelation 21:2) and hopefully with the same old faces you know.
As you engage henceforth into any task, remember you are part of a much bigger story and be encouraged to savour your hard work, even if no one sees it (Colossians 3:23) because your job, your craft, your helping hand are your pulpits. In what you do today, you are contributing to eternity for it is the work of the Lord, and it matters (1 Corinthians 15:58).
But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. I’ve decided that there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That’s it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
These are some additional resources which help us see ourselves as employees of God and not of men. Enjoy!!
