Presented by Lauren Stibgen
Why do we talk repeatedly about work-life balance? It seems like a problem we cannot solve in our current connected society. I mean, we are always “on”. But why? What is creating urgency?
The statement alone suggests the tension people feel about work and life, but why have we separated these two words? Life has taken on a definition it was never intended to hold. Here’s what I mean. According to the dictionary, the word life has almost 20 different uses, but all of them encompass the state of being. For example, when talking about a biography of someone, you say it is about their life. A biography is about someone personally and professionally, about their family and accomplishments, hobbies and all. Fragmenting work life, personal life, family life, and social life surely creates tension!
So, you can’t have a work-life balance, but you can have a balanced life! The book of Ecclesiastes has me thinking about a balanced life. Why do we feel this tension? And what does work have to do with it?
It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with (Ecclesiastes 1:13b ESV).
This verse alone suggests the inherent tension we feel as human beings about the business we are busy with! And sometimes that business is work business and other times it isn’t. For example, you may love your job and have a wonderful time each day with your colleagues but then return home to be a caregiver, which is very stressful.
You see, “work” is defined as physical or mental effort directed toward producing or accomplishing something. And God created us to work! We start to feel the true tension of this work when our underlying motivations about it aren’t what God would want for us.
I really think becoming more attuned to God’s views on our work can help us relieve some of the tension we feel in life! Having this view can bring us into a better balance of life.
After all: What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:3 ESV)