Deeper Reflection
GOD DOES NOT INTEND FOR US TO LOOK AT WORK PURELY in economic terms like the world. But we must “work” that we may “eat” (2 Thess 3:10). It is both a divine design and divine command. And there is a place for working hard for one’s sustenance, as Paul demonstrated (2 Thess 3:8). But we must not view work just in terms of being practical and realistic. We are to look at work theologically – as God sees it.There was a point in creation when “no shrub of the field was yet in the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprouted” (v.5a). Why? Because “the LORD had not sent rain upon the earth” and “there was no man to cultivate the ground” (v.5b). God has designed work to be a divine-human operation. But the primary part belongs to God. Unless God sends the rain upon the earth, nothing will happen, no matter how smart and how hard man cultivates the ground. Overarching and undergirding our work must be “Behold, I have given you every plant…every tree…[to] be food for you” (Gen 1:29). As God sends the rain and man cultivates the ground, ultimately, it is “the LORD God [who] caused to grow every tree out of the ground” (v.9).God is the source of whatever we earn from work. But we must “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness”, and God will provide “all these things” that we need (Matt 6:33). And we can work without worry, knowing that God “knows that you need all these things” (Matt 6:31-32).