Reflection: Finding fulfilment

The achievement addict will, no doubt, over-identify with the Teacher in Ecclesiastes at this point. Talk of “anxious striving” reveals why. It’s not just that work is difficult but that it is over-invested with meaning. We not only work to provide for ourselves and our family but to carve out an identity. Work can never be just work when it also bears the weight of our hopes and aspirations. No wonder we have trouble sleeping at night.

“Toil” also reminds us that our relationship to work is distorted. Using work to secure our identity is part of that. East of Eden, work can be a frustrating slog and there is a meaninglessness to all our endeavours “under the sun”. But Ecclesiastes also tells us that God has “set eternity in the human heart” (3:11). God can and will redeem the world of work. The day is coming when we will no longer feel the urge to prove our worth through it.

Prayer:  Gracious Father, please chasten my need to prove myself through the work of my hands. Help me to find my fulfilment in you above all else. Amen.