The alarm rings, you attempt to burrow
your way to oblivion in the mattress.
You fail. You have to go to work.
Ever felt this way?
I came across an interesting verse in
Ecclesiastes the other day that I thought I’d share.
"It is a good thing
to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in
life - that is indeed a gift from God.
People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has
given them reason for joy" Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 NLT
Work? A reason for
joy? Well, let’s see…
Do I want to get up and go to work every day? No, not really
Are the days stress filled?
Yes, most of the time
Do I work long hours that eat into my free time? Yes
Here’s a reality check. The
“perfect” job doesn’t exist. There are
pros and cons to every work place. The
truth is most days my job as Sales Manager for a Christian radio station is
crazy busy and filled with challenging scenarios.
But with any job (and every situation) you have a choice. You can choose how you view it.
I can choose to see the long hours and hard
work as drudgery that eats into my free time.
Or... I can choose to see the positive difference the hours I work make in the daily life of the people who report to me, and indirectly the positive impact my contribution to the company makes in the daily lives of the people who tune in every day to listen to our radio station.
I choose the latter.
I know it’s a huge struggle to be content in
life’s circumstances. And quite frankly
a lot of people never make it to that point.
But like I said earlier… in every situation you choose.
What about the health part of this scripture? Here’s a simplistic example from my life this
past weekend…
Right now glaciers of ice coat the streets and sidewalks, waiting
to work their treachery on unsuspecting pedestrians. I fell victim to one on Sunday…literally…crashing
down in a flurry of flailing limbs to end up sprawled ungracefully on the sidewalk.
Today I feel like I started a new workout routine. Muscles are tight and sore, but here’s the
thing. I’m grateful my body is able to
absorb a fall like that. I didn’t end up
in the hospital with broken bones. I can
move around and still go for a run. I
choose the view point that it could have been a lot worse.
Wealth…
I realize Solomon is right, to have good health to enjoy life is a
rare gift and it is to be cherished. It
is wealth. A job that puts food on the
table, a roof over my head, gas in the car, and clothes on my back is not to be
taken for granted. It is a blessing…a
source of wealth.
Good health, good work, a wealth of blessings. Choose to be grateful for what God
gives. This is the start of a joy-filled
life.
THINGS TO
THINK ABOUT
Do you need an attitude adjustment? Try looking at life from a different
perspective by asking this question…What can I be grateful for in this
situation? Make a choice to see the
positive.
Looking for some other posts on leading a contented life? Check out...
