When I retired after spending 30 years in affordable housing finance, I envisioned a lot of books, movies, and naps in my future.  People would ask me if I was going to take a big vacation and my answer was always, “No, because there are a lot of books to be read.”  Besides, I was really excited to give this coaching thing a try.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that my dream of lounging around eating bon-bons wasn’t realistic nor good for my waistline. I found that I was excited enough about starting my business that I wasn’t nearly as interested in reading novels as I had thought I would.  

In fact, it didn’t take long for me to start telling others who were thinking of retiring that they need to retire TO something, not to get AWAY FROM something.  I love the life I created for myself, but you know if you’ve followed my podcast very closely, that it hasn’t been an easy journey.  I big part of me has been drawn to work with people in my former life…the people who are still making a living in a work environment that is much different than the entrepreneurial world I find myself in today.  

You see, as much as I loved the work I did and the people I did it with, I was killing myself one stress-filled day after another. I can name dozens of others that were doing the same, but like me, didn’t realize it.   Only recently when I landed in the hospital for three days with extreme pain that I really focused on what was going on with all the clues my body was giving me.  I found that my body was full of inflammation and my adrenals were out of wack.  In fact, once my test results came in, my functional medicine doctor couldn’t understand how I drug myself out of bed each day.  

So I really want to focus on those of you who continue to fight the good fight in the work world.  I believe everything I say here will apply to you retirees and entrepreneurs, but I want to make sure I’ve got the attention of you who are in the grind, pushing hard every day to meet a deadline, wishing there wasn’t so much to do, and possibly even resenting that your work is undervalued.  

First, I need to admit that I had it all wrong for years.  I worked for that magical day when I could retire. I believed that was the goal.  Work hard and then one day you won’t’ have to anymore.  

What I didn’t realize was we are created to work.  Not in the traditional sense of work necessarily, but whatever work we are called by the Lord to do. Up until the very end of our lives.  The Bible tells us that we don’t know the hour that Jesus will return, and a big part of that is because we might be tempted to be lazy in our work for Christ.  In fact, in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 6, Paul says to, “Stay away from any Christian who lives in idleness and doesn’t follow the tradition of hard work we gave you.  For you know that you ought to follow our example.  We were never lazy when we were with you.  We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it.  We worked hard day and night so that we would not be a burden to any of you.  It wasn’t that we didn’t have the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.  Even while we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘Whoever does not work should not eat.’ Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and wasting time meddling in other people’s business.  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we appeal to such people – no, we command them: Settle down and get to work.  Earn your own living.  And I say to the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.” 

That sounds a little harsh, doesn’t it?  But the reality is, that work is its own reward.  When we are serving others and living the life God created us to live, we are happy.  We are fulfilled.  We sense our true value and are less apt to get discouraged.  I really believe that that the sense of entitlement that we have created in our society is contrary to what God wants for each of us.  Granted, there are people who aren’t able to work and others who can’t do the physical work they once did, but there are so many things they can still do. In fact, some of the people I know who are considered to be completely disabled work circles around “abled-bodied people” without thinking a thing about it.  Others actively seek a way to avoid working, which I believe leads to discontentment and disappointment with life.  

I will always remember when my grandmother, who had worked her whole life, had a stroke and couldn’t even lift a glass to give herself a drink anymore.  She was so discouraged and it was hard to keep her spirits up.  I’d like to think that it helped her some when I tried to reframe the situation for her by reminding her that those who serve need someone to serve.  That may be since she had bid God’s calling her whole life, that it was time to allow others to do the same.  That it was possible that her job was to be the light in each of her nurses’ day.  To offer encouragement in a setting that I know can be less than easy most days.  I honestly don’t know if that changed things for my grandmother or the people who assisted her with daily functions we take for granted, but I completely changed how I looked at that, and many other situations.  

Life from this world’s perspective is so very different than how God calls us to live it.  I especially love Solomon’s observations in Ecclesiastes 3 starting at verse 1.  He says, 

There is a time for everything,

A season for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to rebuild.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

A time to search and a time to lose.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak up.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

He goes on to say, “What do people really get for their hard work?  I have thought about this in connection with various kinds of work God has given people to do.  God has made everything beautiful for its own time.  He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.  So I conclude that there is nothing better for people to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can.  And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.” 

What I believe we can learn from these beautiful verses is that God has a plan for each and every one of us.  We all have cycles of life and a specific work he calls us each to do.  If we are unhappy in our work, we need to look at our attitude about serving and we need to look at whether we are doing the work we are really meant to do or simply settling for the easy route. Is it possible that we let life our soul really longs for go because we were afraid to reach for it?  It is a fact for many and it makes me sad to realize.   

If you do not have a sense of purpose in your work, you will become dissatisfied.  It is easier to love our work if we remember that it was given to us by God to accomplish and consider it a way to serve God.   It is also helpful to look at the fruit of our labor is a gift from God.  One we are to enjoy rather than store up and hoard for a day that may never come.  

A measure I used time and again when trying to decide between conflicting obligations for work and enjoyment was, which option would remember if I was there or not in ten years?  Would my family remember that I missed so and so’s wedding or would the host of a meeting remember that I missed their meeting?  Would my child remember that I missed his Christmas program, or would my co-workers remember that I missed the office gift exchange?   

This may sound crazy to you, but I believe that God intended for our work to bring us joy!  That we should be able to immerse ourselves in the work and feel energized.  If it drains the very soul from us, it may not be the work intended for us.  That doesn’t mean it will be without problems, but it does mean we have the opportunity to discover that without God, there really aren’t any solutions to life’s problems.  He will guide us through the biggest challenges in our work if we will allow him to do so.  

So, what does this work that God calls us to do look like?  Good question!  I think it looks very much different than the standards of the work world looks like.  In fact, I’m creating a series of podcasts, blogs, and corresponding Facebook Lives around the topic: The Top 7 Mistakes Christians Make at Work.   In the FaceBook videos, that I also intend to share on my website if you aren’t on FaceBook, I’ll delve into the mistakes we make and then will share my thoughts on how we can correct that in the corresponding weekly podcast and blog.  I’ve created a PDF of the topics you can download as well.  You can find it all on my website at www.vonajohnson.com.  I hope you’ll check this series out.  If you know someone who is struggling with the work they are doing and you think they could benefit from this episode and the following episodes, please share this with them.  

If you download the free pdf, you will be added to my newsletter so you won’t miss an episode of this series.  

Thank you for listening today.  I know your time is very precious and I’m honored you chose to spend this time with me.  Have a blessed day and go, settle down and get to work!  There is so much to do!