Latest / Prayer Before Work / S01E33 - WHEN YOUR WORK FEELS MEANINGLESS "What Do You Do When the Work Stops Feeling Worth It?"
Transcript
- Sean Graver: So, what do you do when the work stops feeling worth it? I don't mean just a hard day, but a deeper thing. Like a a slow burning question that's been building for a while. Like, does any of this even matter? If that's where you are right now, I I'm really glad you're here. So let's bring that question to God before the day starts, and then let's pray. So let's go to Psalm 9017, where it says. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. So Moses wrote this psalm at the end of a long season of wandering, right? Forty years of leading people through a desert with no permanent home. And what he prays isn't for comfort or recognition. He prays that the work would be established, like made to last, given value and meaning. ⁓ by God himself. And that's the ask. And I think it's the right one. But the crisis of meaning at work, that's very real. And it's a lot more common than people admit. I mean you can be competent, ⁓ well employed, ⁓ even successful, and still feel like you're just going through the motions that don't connect to anything that lasts. But here's what I've come to believe meaning in work isn't usually found. It's assigned. And not by your job title or your performance review or even by the nature of the work itself. It's assigned by the one who established it. When Moses asks God to establish the work of our hands, he's asking God to be the one who gives it ⁓ meaning or weight, to make it count in ways that outlasts that that immediate output. ⁓ Ordinary effort and weave it into something larger than the task itself. Now you may not be able to see how your work matters right now, but that that's okay. The request is still valid. God, make this mean something, establish it. Now he can do that with work that feels small. In fact, he specializes in it. And you know, let's just pray. God, I am bringing you the honest question, does this work matter? Because some days I'm just not sure. And I don't want to just push through that question. I want to bring it to you. Would you establish the work of my hands? Not just make me productive, but make the work mean something. Weave it into something larger than I can see from where I'm standing. Help me to trust that work done faithfully in your presence is never pointless, even when it feels that way. I mean, you're the one who assigns meaning. So I'm asking you to assign it today. Establish my work. Make it last. In Jesus' name. Amen. Now go make today count.