Work as the Desert

I am so very blessed to work from home, I’ve done it for years. I’m grateful for it. But I still struggle with the type of work I do. Oh, it’s not bad work at all! I own a freelance writing business. It too is a blessing. I’m my own boss, I work from where I want, when I want, and I earn a good living. The hours are very reasonable so I can put time into Christian writing and speaking. For this too, I am grateful.

Yet. The work is not my favorite thing to do. I write marketing pieces for technology companies. It’s not exactly passionately exciting, plus it can be very challenging. Sometimes I get bored and sometimes I get resentful, wondering why I can’t get to the real work yet — full-time Christian ministry.

Two weeks ago God brought me up short. In no uncertain terms He laid on my heart that He has me exactly where I am supposed to be. The work I am doing now — honest work surrounded by blessings — is not something to complain about, but something to be grateful for in this season of my life.

I know this is true and I’m getting better about it. But this morning I was bored again and finding it hard to start work. I was so upset at myself that I googled “Christian work is boring,” hoping to find inspiration!

And I found it. By the grace of God, this outstanding article appeared: Boring Work: Good for the Soul. (No matter how monotonous, unseen, or ordinary, our jobs can powerfully transform us into Christlikeness.)

I’ll try to avoid quoting the entire article in this post. A few highlights below:

“… theosis—meaning Godlikeness or deification—lies at the heart of the desert fathers and mothers’ theology of work. They believed that our highest vocation is not the kind of work we do, but the kind of people we become doing it.“

Another one:

“… each person’s work is a sacred task given to them by Providence in order to achieve Christlikeness. Our daily tasks and personal relationships become the hands of God to shape and fashion us into the image of his beloved Son. Theosis is the goal of work, just as it is the goal of life.”

And finally:

“Washing dishes, cleaning house, and making meals are the hands of God that fashion a bouquet of godly virtues in the heart of a homemaker. Theosis develops when dealing with a rude customer teaches a store clerk the spiritual grace of patience. A Christlike nature silently appears in the soul of a doctor who sacrifices sleep in order to take a 2 A.M. emergency call from one of his patients. A factory worker gradually becomes living prayer as she integrates the monotony of the assembly line with Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17, NASB). Our workplace is an arena where we train to transform our daily chores into spiritual causes. It will often make us great saints or great sinners.”

If you ever struggle with feeling bored or unfulfilled by work — paid or not — do yourself a favor and read this article.