The Problem of Dread
In many of my jobs, the Sunday Afternoon Blues came every week like clockwork. Tomorrow and for the next 5 days, I had to conform to expectations. Someone else defined the reality of the world where I worked. My job was to do certain things, certain ways. So, part of me had to stay home. Have you ever felt that way?
Dread on Vacations and Transition, too!
Vacations were even worse. Early in the week, I dreaded the dread I would feel at the end of the week. We seldom took vacations that were long enough where I had two days without dread. Some of you are thinking I’m crazy, but others know this feeling well.
Searching for a job brought even more dread. In each interview, I tried to guess what not-to-say so they would hire me. I figured if I talked long enough on any interview, I would talk myself out of a job.
The Cause of Dread
I think the dread comes from the part of us we’re not using. When our job uses only a few of our talents, we turn off part of who-we-are. I longed for a job where all of me fit. My problem wasn’t bad jobs or bad bosses. Instead, my problem came from jobs that didn’t fit.
The Solution for Dread
God created us to be our whole “us.” And when we’re with God, doing what God gives us to do, we should experience joy and peace and rest, even while we work. For me, I experience this joy when I’m working toward something that will last forever. An elevated purpose pulls me into the future.
God hand crafted each of us for a specific, eternal purpose. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God has prepared good works for us to walk in. So, every interaction we have can be an investment in forever. Most of what God asks us to do is serve others.
When we serve a perfect God perfectly in the strengths he has provided, we experience joy. We experience the life God created us to live and his Spirit fills us. But he didn’t create us to live that life for ourselves. We’re given a great life so we can give it away. Whatever your life is, God asks us to give it away. After all, that’s what a “living sacrifice” is from Romans 12:1-2.
Living Sacrifice
When we give our lives away to God, he fills us and we experience our eternal life here and now. The proof of his life is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Go to work for God and let the Holy Spirit direct you. He will defeat your dread. Report to him tomorrow and work for him. When you do, He will give you love, joy, peace and life, even in a job you used to dread.
Photo by Ethan Sykes on Unsplash
