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Work Consumes My Life

Image of a woman talking on her cellphone while sitting at her laptop. She has several papers around her. Her little girl is sitting to her right wearing a tiara and holding a teddy bear. The daughter is staring at the computer screen, almost in a bored trance. The woman's son is standing to her left, also looking at her computer screen. The words across the top are: "When work consumes your life and distracts you from God." by Beeda Speis
Work consumes my life by Beeda Speis

What “things” consume your time and energy? What monopolizes your attention and focus? For me, it’s work. Work consumes my life. I can’t seem to leave it at the office, and it’s been that way for over 28 years.

I’m on vacation through Wednesday this week but felt really stressed yesterday because of a dream I had the night before. I dreamt that one client called and was angry that I still wasn’t finished with his project even though the reason for the delay was because he kept making changes to the floor plan. Another client stopped in and was almost threatening because his project wasn’t done. I had one day to finish both projects. Then, kids kept coming into my office and getting into things and disrupting me. My boss was nowhere to be found. The deadline came and went and I hadn’t made any progress on either project. All I could do was sit there and wait for everything to come crashing down. That’s when I woke up. Such a vivid dream about work, partway into my vacation troubled me.

This could have been an act of Spiritual Warfare. Or it could be a reflection of how stressed I get about work and deadlines, and how dominant my work life is in my day-to-day life. I work the standard 40 hours per week (actually, a little less) but because I’m always thinking about it, and even dreaming about it, work consumes my life, my time, my energy.

Bible Verse

So, this morning, I was still thinking about it and wishing that I didn’t think about work so much. While researching Bible verses that relate to time, God showed me this perfect verse:

It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Psalm 127:2 ESV

Commentary

I don’t want to copy everything that David Guzik wrote about this verse, but you can read it if you want by clicking here and then scrolling down to verse 2.

I do want to share a couple of things Guzik wrote. He quoted one commentator:

“But the psalmist decries this as an inferior way of life if the hard work is only for the purpose of providing daily food and clothing for oneself and the family. The higher way of life begins with trusting the Lord in one’s work.”

Willem A. VanGemeren

What really hit home for me was David Guzik’s comment:
Men who are affected by reliance on their own work experience the anxiety that comes with it. God’s blessing is to give His loved ones sleep. They can be at peace knowing that God’s hand is at work and His eye watches even as they sleep.” (emphasis mine).

Reflect

Yesterday, I touched on the idea that we make time for things that are important to us. Work can seem like the most important thing because it generates the money that sustains us. What if we put that same emphasis on our relationship with God? Isn’t it God Who sustains us in all things? (Isaiah 46:4)

What consumes your time, your life?


Please join me this week in praying for help and guidance to use our time wisely. Let’s also pray for those we know who profess to be Christians but who don’t spend any time with their Father. Pray that they come to know the peace, joy, and hope that comes from building a solid relationship with Him.