Ask Salt&Light: How do I find meaning in my monotonous job?
Ask Salt&Light gives our readers the opportunity to ask Christian ministry staff and marketplace leaders questions about the practicalities of living out the Christian faith in the workplace.
Deputy Senior Pastor Chua Seng Lee and Pastor Felicia Goh-Ong, Bethesda (Bedok-Tampines) Church // April 20, 2018, 4:22 pm
Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash
Dear Salt&Light,
I wish I could use my work to glorify God, but to be honest, it is a monotonous job and I cannot see any value in it for God’s kingdom. How do I find meaning in monotony?
Toh Min Yi, 36, Administrative Officer
It is not easy to be in a job that you can’t make meaning of but nonetheless you can make the best of it. Here are some ways:
1. Seek God for His purpose in you being there for this time. Could it be a colleague or client you are meant to reach? A system that you are equipped to improve and change for the betterment of others?
2. Change your perspective. Most of the time, our circumstances may be out of our control. But we can choose to adopt a different attitude towards our work. When Paul wrote Philippians, he was in jail (Philippians 1:13). Yet he was able to exhort others to rejoice (Philippians 3:1) and say that he has learnt to abound and abase in every situation because his strength comes from the Lord (Philippians 4:12-13). Look for one thing to thank God for in your daily routine and to change the way you view your work.
Every place that you have been put in is no accident. Difficult and monotonous as it may be, the experience that you undergo will not be wasted in the hand of God.
3. Strengthen yourself in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10, Isaiah 41:10). As God calls us to any given role, He too will empower and enable us. So if you desire to glorify Him, then go to Him to be supernaturally recharged for what you have to do.
4. Exit if you need to. If you have tried your best and persevered for some time at your workplace within reasonable means and still find it a daily drudge to the point that you are becoming a bitter complainant, then it’s okay to leave and look elsewhere. Work isn’t easy but it is not meant to make you miserable each day. Work can be a means to delight God and He has wired each of us uniquely for different kinds of work. Don’t be afraid to move on to do another work that you might be better suited for.
Every place that you have been put in is no accident. Difficult and monotonous as it may be, the experience that you undergo will not be wasted in the hand of God.
It’s not just what you do but how you do it that matters to God because He values what is in our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).
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