A Workers Day Special

Happy International Workers Day.

I know that when people hear the word ‘work’,it elicits all kinds of responses. I know that there are millions of people world over who do not have meaningful work to do, some others who are not well compensated for the work that they do – the list goes on and on.

Somewhere in our minds, I know that we some times wonder why we have to work. Why we can’t we stay in bed, lounge around all day and yet have a good life?

I think the very premise of work was corrupted and so was our perspective of it. There are two sides to work:

[15] Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
[16] Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
[17] And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Psalms 90:15-17 (KJV)

We see Thy work, in reference to God. We see the work of our hands, in reference to us. What does this mean?

Well, there are two works: The Works of God and the Works of Men.

We can immediately see that God works. Therefore work is a good thing. It is pleasing and acceptable. It is God-ordained and God-approved. In the works of God, there is that which he does alone, and there is that which he does in partnership with men. For the work that God does with men, he brings men into such divine partnership by showing it to them.

Therefore, this is my definition of divine purpose: It is a man’s part in the plan of God, his revealed portion in the work of God.

On our part, two things tend to happen; The first is that the revealed or unveiled work of God to us becomes our work. It becomes a work that we are engaged in. It becomes the work of our hands. On the other hand, we could have a have work that may not appear related to the revealed work, however it plays other roles that make it possible for us to do that which has been revealed to us.

Therefore, we see a simple truth; that the intention is that the revealed work of God becomes the work of our hands in experience.

Now, maybe you are a believer, and perhaps you do menial jobs and sometimes you think it is a waste of time and resources. However, it need not be so. Or maybe your case is different, and you think that because you are a big shot doing important things, you are doing the Lord’s work. Again, maybe not.

So on this Workers Day, it will be a good time to join the Psalmist in his prayers; That the Lord will show us His work and that as we pursue that reality, He will establish the works of our hands for us.