Lively
By Janis Buelow (Christian Growth Associate)
“She finds wool and flax and busily spins it…” (Proverbs 31:13)
Everything in our society centers around this idea of “work.” We often see pushes for reduced workweeks, emphasize holidays where we are off of work, and a Twitter poll from 2019 saw that 79% of people work through their lunch breaks.*
So, when you see this idea of “work” pop up in Proverbs 31, it often strikes as that next exhausting statement in our lives. It’s tiring to work – so why does God want us to work?
Well, when we read surrounding verses in Proverbs 31, we find that God wants us to work with a “lively spirit,” but not in our careers. Instead, God wants us to work with lively spirits to accomplish His will – to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Of course, vocations are incredibly important. We are all spiritually gifted and very unique. Some of us are great at teaching. Others are great at being social and meeting new people. More are good at empathy and having deep conversations. And some are good at crafts and hands-on activities. We are all incredibly different.
Therefore, the harder task other than going and making disciples is actually do simply enjoy the work we do. I know what you’re thinking – some of us like our work and some of us don’t. So how does this relate back to Proverbs 31? Well, when we use the practice of seeing the bright side to our day-to-day tasks and the things we may not always find enjoyment doing, we can start to see God’s liveliness blossoming in the parts of our own lives that seem grey. It then becomes easier to enjoy those tasks and then creates the habit of pushing against what the grey of the world wants and instead refocusing on God. Your challenge this week is to do just that! Pick one thing you don’t like to do at work and think to yourself – How is God working through this task to nurture His Kingdom?
Dear God, Help me to see your work in my life. Help me to be lively in everything that I do. In your name we pray, Amen.
*Moore, K. (2019), Should you work during lunch?, mondayblog, https://monday.com/blog/productivity/should-you-work-during-lunch/