"All mankind will fear, they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done." (Psalm 64:9 NIV)
Work. It's the fabric of our lives. It's so much a part of us that we use it as a way of personal identification: "What do you do?" Work becomes a way to classify who we are. If we are out of work, our lives are a mess. If we don't have the right kind of work, we feel frustrated. Work and life seem to go hand-in-hand.
God's character is associated with work too. In this verse there are actually two Hebrew words for "work". The first is po'al. It is in the phrase "proclaim the works of God." This word usually does not mean what God has created. It refers to God's acts in history. The Psalmist says that men will tell the stories of God's acts and recognize their need for reverence before Him. God is the God of history. His mighty deeds shape the path of Mankind. He is in charge.
This word reminds us that our lives are under God's authority and control. He is the One Who is directing our circumstances. When you consider the events of your life, you should be able to point to God's acts in your history and proclaim them to others.
The second word for "work" in this verse is translated here as "what he has done". It is the Hebrew root asa. It is found over 2600 times in the Old Testament and covers just about every category of "to do or make". But it is still not the word used for God's act of creation. This word emphasizes the fashioning and production of things, not the creation of something absolutely new. It also usually refers to God's presence in our history.
Now we see that the emphasis of this verse is not about pondering the heavens and the earth as God's creation. It is about reflecting deeply on God's history with us. It is our life story written from God's perspective.
This raises an important question: Do you see your work as the hand of God written into your own history? Can you proclaim your work as God's action in your life? It's not about you, is it? Even work is about Him
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A WORK PRAYER
Holy Spirit of God, this is a major insight into the relationship between the Lord God and me. Please help me to get hold of it. Do I see my work as the hand of God written into my own history? Can I proclaim my work as God's action in my life? It's not about me, is it? Even work is about You. Amen.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Thinking about your work, are you able to relate to it as one of the ways God acts in your life? Why or why not?
2. In what ways can you place your work-life more fully under God's control?
This WorkLife SwitchTOOL was written by Skip Moen, PhD. Skip provides mentoring and consulting to companies who want to serve God through their work. Atgodstable.com Used by permission. All rights reserved. Content edited and distributed by WorkLife.org for non-profit educational purposes
