The Invitation

As I ponder the invitation for work-weary souls, I notice that I am surrounded by them. I seem to be a magnet for these fellow victims of weariness. In my small group, a teacher describes weariness from the chaos in her middle school caused by a crow bar attack on the vice-principal by a former student who has not been captured. I visit in a chapel hallway with a widely recognized doctor, serving as head of a medical clinic for Hispanic adolescents and weary from inadequate support from the sponsoring organization. I visit regularly with a fellow high-tech entrepreneur who is weary to the bone from dealing with a venture capitalist who invested in his company and now has him locked out of the building, attempting a takeover.

On retreat last month, I talked to a postal worker who escaped into alcoholism from 20 years in a boring, repetitive job. Yesterday I visited with a consultant, held in a tedious assignment at a huge Texas law firm by some unexplained force other than money. Last week I met with a senior vice-president in a billion dollar information company, weary from questioning his future in a company where twenty years of people-oriented values were vaporized by a new CEO. Each person seemed ready to sacrifice years of investment in meaningful work and dreams for the future and security to simply escape the energy-depleting situation which they face in their daily work. I can add my own story too.

Doing It All

My own weariness appears to come from hanging onto the good, the bad and the ugly tasks and situations in my daily work. I am unable to release energy-depleting task and grasp energizing tasks. I am overloaded with tasks that block any invitation leading to a future of hope, peace and serenity in the arena of my daily work.

Oswald Chambers, best known for his devotional guide for "full-time" Christian workers, also shows deep insight into the affliction of weariness for those of us serving Christ in the Church Scattered. Consecration is ...giving over of ourselves to God, letting his providence place us where He will - in business or law, or science, workshop, politics, or drudgery. We are to be there working according to the laws and principles of the kingdom of God, not according to the ideals or aims or ways of looking at things from the point of view of a particular social group.

In order to find freedom from weariness, I must allow God to place me in His choice slot for me. To do this I must face my personal habits that simply ignore God and hang on to weariness. Releasing tiresome tasks is terribly difficult for me. Weary is actually normal. My issue is shame-driven workaholic habits that stand between me and working according to the laws and principles of the kingdom of God.

Earnie Larson lists my key workaholic feelings in his excellent book Stage II Recovery. I rarely feel I accomplish enough. I am intimidated by unfinished business. I don't celebrate the conclusion of one project before starting another. When I relax I experience more guilt than pleasure. I put less value on personal time than on work time. I spend more time, energy and effort on projects than on relationships. When I hear these words, I cringe thinking of all the pain and weariness I have inflicted on myself over the years with these workaholic habits. I coped with the shame of growing up with an alcoholic father, a prominent businessman in a small Oklahoma town. I felt that my only option was to play the role of the family hero, overpowering the shame I felt with hard work and achievements. These ineffective coping habits were formed early and can still overtake me forty years later. They lock me into weariness producing situations, even when God pleads "Let go and move on!"

Reasons for hanging on to weary tasks seem to be intensely personal. But the invitation to each work weary soul comes from Jesus himself: Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the load I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light. (Matthew 11:23 TEV).

When I accept Christ's offer of the exchanged burden, I ask Christ to do for me what I cannot do for myself. His grace is sufficient for my guilt and shame. Slowly God enables me to drop the wearisome things that do not matter and respond to God's call. In poker language, if I will play the cards God deals me, He will teach me how to "know when to hold'em, and know when to fold'em". This path to recovery over work weariness leads to peace, serenity and love, even in the arena of daily work.

Bob Slocum is both an "ordinary Christian" as a Presbyterian layman and a high-tech entrepreneur as founder of Polatomic, Inc. a Dallas TX company that specializes in new product development.

His book Maximize Your Ministry has been reprinted and is available from FAW.