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1: Divine Disappointments · Finding God at Work

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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  isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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  course.
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  Check it out at FindingGodAtWork.org.
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  With this episode, we are kicking off a
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  new series, Divine Disappointments, Facing Pain and Sorrow
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  at Work.
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  If you're like me, work can be a
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  place of incredible motivation, sometimes even joy, but
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  work is also a source of great frustration
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  and sometimes disappointment.
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  Sometimes disappointment that's so profound that it could
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  even fairly be called pain and sorrow.
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  And that can happen both in just the
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  everyday kind of warp and woof of life
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  at work, disappointing circumstances, stressors, just what it
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  feels like to do your job.
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  It can also happen in the bigger picture
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  of our careers and our vocations.
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  We can face deep disappointment about where we've
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  ended up in our lives at work versus
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  what we had dreamed of or what we
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  had longed for when we were younger.
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  And so I want to take time in
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  this series to really lean into that experience
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  of disappointment.
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  So if you're in a season where you're
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  just loving life at work, things are going
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  really well for you, you're full of joy
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  all the time, and you can just stock
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  up for the future during this series because
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  likely there will be times in the future
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  when you face disappointment at work again, or
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  you can think about how people around you
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  may be facing into these things and how
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  you can provide an empathetic and prayerful and
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  thoughtful presence for them as they face disappointments
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  at work.
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  But for a lot of us, this is
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  super accessible.
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  This is right there in front of us.
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  We're facing the difficulties of work.
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  We're facing the disappointment of work on any
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  given week.
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  There's something that happens that fits in that
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  category for us.
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  And the title of the series, Divine Disappointments,
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  is kind of a play on words of
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  this sort of church culture phrase called divine
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  appointments.
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  So I don't know if you've ever heard
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  somebody say, oh, that was a divine appointment
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  when you meet somebody at the exact right
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  place and right time and it just works
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  out and it helped with something that was
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  really important.
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  It's kind of like that idea that in
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  a secular context might be called serendipity, and
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  in a more classic theological context might be
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  called providence.
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  But there's just this phrase that's come up
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  like, oh, that's a divine appointment.
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  Like I met this person at the exact
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  right time.
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  I had this conversation at the exact right
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  time.
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  So play on words, divine disappointments, right?
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  Sometimes our pains, our sorrows, the things that
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  we're facing at work, those can be the
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  places where God meets us.
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  And so it's divine disappointments, not in the
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  sense that God is always sending those things
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  directly to us, but that in our experience
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  of those things, we can meet God, their
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  opportunities for deeper intimacy with God.
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  So that's kind of the banner headline idea
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  of this whole series, is that when we
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  bring our experiences of pain at work to
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  Jesus, He can transform them and make them
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  the places of deepest spiritual growth and most
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  fruitful mission to others in our lives at
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  work.
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  It's not just about how do we get
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  through the disappointments at work, not just how
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  do we grit it out, but rather how
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  do we welcome the Holy Spirit into those
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  places of pain and into those places of
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  sorrow so that He can do His transforming
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  work.
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  And when we do that, we discover those
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  places are the places of deepest spiritual growth.
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  Those places are the places of most fruitful
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  mission that we actually will experience a deeper
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  and more meaningful life at work, because we've
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  gone through the fire of these disappointments with
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  the power of the Holy Spirit.
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  And then if we had just been smooth
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  sailing all the way along.
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  Okay, so for today's episode to kind of
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  kick us off, I want to go to
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  the disappointed at work passage or one of
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  the disappointed at work passages in Scripture.
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  It's almost funny to me how one-sided
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  this passage is, but this was inspired by
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  the Holy Spirit, just like the rest of
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  Scripture was for our benefit.
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  So this is from the book of Ecclesiastes.
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  Within the context of the whole book you
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  have this writer who's called the teacher, who's
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  kind of philosophically exploring the meaning of life
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  and the perceived meaninglessness of life, including life
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  at work.
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  So this is chapter two, starting in verse
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  17.
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  So I hated life because the work that
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  is done under the sun was grievous to
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  me.
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  All of it is meaningless, chasing after the
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  wind.
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  I hated all the things I had toiled
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  for under the sun because I must leave
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  them to the one who comes after me.
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  And who knows whether that person will be
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  wise or foolish, yet they will have control
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  over all the fruit of my toil and
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  to which I have poured out my effort
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  and skill under the sun.
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  This too is meaningless.
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  So my heart began to despair over all
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  my toil some labor under the sun.
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  For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge,
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  and skill, and then they must leave all
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  they own to another who has not toiled
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  for it.
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  This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
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  What do people get for all the toil
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  and anxious striving with which they labor under
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  the sun?
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  All their days their work is grief and
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  pain.
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  Even at night their minds do not rest.
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  This too is meaningless.
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  A person can do nothing better than to
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  eat and drink and find satisfaction in their
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  own toil.
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  This too I see is from the hand
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  of God, for without him who can eat
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  or find enjoyment.
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  To the person who pleases him, God gives
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  wisdom, knowledge, and happiness, but to the sinner
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  he gives the task of gathering and storing
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  up wealth to hand it over to the
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  one who pleases God.
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  This too is meaningless.
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  A chasing after the wind.
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  Okay, that is the Word of God.
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  That is part of God's word to us
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  about our experience of work.
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  So my takeaway from that little passage is
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  that God understands exactly how much your job
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  sucks.
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  And then I would add, got in light
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  of the whole thrust of Scripture and God's
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  presence with us, and he wants to meet
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  you there.
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  So God understands exactly how much your job
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  sucks and he wants to meet you there.
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  He wants to meet you right there in
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  that place of pain, in that place of
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  disappointment.
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  In this passage there's one particular aspect of
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  why work is disappointing, that the teacher is
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  bemoaning, right?
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  And that's this idea that we can't take
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  it with us, right?
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  We work all our lives to maybe build
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  up some degree of wealth or influence or
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  significance, but then eventually we're all going to
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  die.
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  And then what happens, right?
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  It gets passed on via inheritance to somebody
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  else or maybe, you know, different parts of
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  our legacy get passed on, not even to
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  our heirs, but to other people who kind
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  of pick up where we left off at
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  work, etc.
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  And who knows what they're going to do
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  with it, or if they're even going to
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  do a good job with it.
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  There's this sense of futility, like, ugh, why
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  does it even matter if we're all just
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  going to end up dead in the end?
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  In light of kind of contemporary physics, we
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  can even think about how eventually not only
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  will we all die, but the universe itself
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  will die, right?
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  Eventually our solar system will collapse under the
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  heat death of the sun, right?
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  All life that we have ever known or
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  ever will know will be gone.
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  So that really is like, well, what's the
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  point of work?
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  What does it mean to have a legacy
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  if there will be nobody around to even
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  remember what we did?
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  Okay, now, obviously for those of us who
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  put our faith in Jesus Christ, we have
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  a sense of things that might even outlast
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  the heat death of the sun.
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  That's a big part of how we think
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  about this the significance of the here now
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  related to eternity.
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  But I want to let the biblical passage
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  that's bemoaning this sense of meaninglessness to hit
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  us where it's at, because we feel that
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  in the moment, don't we?
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  We don't always feel like, oh yeah, but
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  this counts for eternity.
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  Sometimes we feel like, well, what was the
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  point of that?
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  Like, why did I work so hard on
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  that project only for the company to shift
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  priorities and that project never saw the light?
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  Or why did I work so hard to
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  get that promotion only for it to go
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  to somebody who clearly does not deserve it
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  and does not qualify to do it?
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  Or why did I work so hard to
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  get that degree now that the job market
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  for it is totally terrible and it just
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  feels like my student loans are reminding me
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  every month of how dumb it was for
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  me to try and make that educational investment?
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  Or why does it matter that I do
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  a good job at my work when somebody
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  who slacks off gets paid just as much
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  or more than I do?
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  There's so many dimensions here where we feel
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  just like the teacher and ecclesiastes feel.
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  We feel like our work is meaningless.
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  Our work does not count our jobs.
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  They just are bothersome and annoying and fruitless.
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  Okay, so how can we respond to this
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  passage?
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  I want to suggest that that feeling, that
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  that's what you can bring to God today,
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  right?
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  God included these words in the Bible for
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  a reason so that we could connect with
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  him so that we could draw close to
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  him.
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  And there's even a little hint of that
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  in this passage, right, where he says a
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  person can do nothing better than to eat
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  and drink and find satisfaction in their own
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  toil.
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  This too, I see, is from the hand
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  of God.
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  So there's this sense of like God is
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  there and in as much as we can
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  experience joy or or satisfaction at work, that's
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  a that's a gift of God, right, even
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  in the mix of all of these other
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  big questions and the sense of purposelessness that
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  we sometimes feel.
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  I think that that feeling, that feeling of
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  that's where God can meet you.
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  So what is that feeling for you today?
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  What is the disappointment that you are facing
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  today?
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  If you can just name it, what are
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  you most disappointed about with your current job
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  or your current vocational and career life?
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  What is that for you today?
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  Name that, bring that to God in prayer,
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  and let that launch you into, as we
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  explore in this series, how God can transform
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  that disappointment and make it a place of
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  incredible growth and incredibly fruitful mission.
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  So just as a little bit of an
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  outline for the series, for this one, because
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  of its nature, I may try to include
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  a few more interviews than we normally do,
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  so that may be fun, but because of
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  that, I'm not quite sure of the exact
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  order of the episodes because I've got to
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  schedule with people to do the interviews.
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  So this is more like a sampling than
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  an outline of the series, but we're going
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  to be looking at injustice at work.
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  What if you face injustice like racial or
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  sexual discrimination at work, or even just a
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  boss treating you unfairly relative to your efforts?
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  How do you deal with the death of
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  a dream, the death of a vocational dream?
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  I have personal experience with that and a
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  sense of, wow, this isn't what I plan
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  for at all.
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  What does that mean for me and for
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  my future?
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  How do you face challenges like being passed
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  over for a promotion or getting laid off
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  or getting fired?
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  How do you deal with that more existential
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  sense of purposelessness or emptiness in work?
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  How do you face the really practical realities
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  of financial stress at work when you just
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  aren't making enough, or if you're facing a
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  toxic boss or toxic workplace or burnout?
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  How do you face those circumstantial things like
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  if you fail as a small business entrepreneur,
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  and then other things too, like you can
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  face loss of reputation at work.
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  You can face boredom and disengagement at work.
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  You can be forced into early retirement or
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  into part-time work by health issues or
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  family health issues.
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  You can face moral injury at work if
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  you feel like your values and your convictions
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  were compromised in some way.
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  This is especially prominent for those who are
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  first responders or in the military but also
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  in other fields as well.
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  So we're going to be taking a look
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  at all of those dimensions and how they
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  overlap with each other, bringing them to Jesus
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  and inviting him to do his transforming work
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  and us.
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  Really looking forward to digging into this with
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  you in the we do ask that we
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  would be present to you with our pain
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  with our sorrow such as it is.
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  Give us a gift of incredible emotional honesty
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  with you during this series.
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  Help us to level with ourselves and with
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  you and with other conversation partners so that
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  we can welcome you into those places of
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  pain and disappointment so that we can experience
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  your grace and your transformation.
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  Jesus do your work in us as we
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  do our work with you.
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  Amen.
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  Thanks for listening.
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  Finding God at Work is a production of
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  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois
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  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
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  life.
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  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
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  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
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  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
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  and Thursday.
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  To get resources to go deeper with each
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  podcast series, read our blog, and get info
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  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
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  go to our website missioncentral.church.