Sometimes I feel like all the work I am doing is not enough. I feel like I’m disappointing everyone around me, and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t make them happy. I work very hard at what I do, and when I’m working, it takes 100% of my focus. I’m either all in or all out.

At times, I have let my work become my identity – as an English teacher, as a coach, as an administrator, as a writer, even my volunteer work as a Bible study teacher. I am lulled into believing that what I do is who I am. As a full-time mom, I didn’t think my work was that important or useful. I thought I was not using my education or my skills to the fullest extent. I was bored and over-stimulated all at the same time.

Recently I have been reading the book of Ecclesiastes, which is giving me a perspective on work that I need in this season. At the end of Solomon’s life, he saw the futility in all the work God gave man to do. He also saw that God “has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And God’s beauty-making has little to do with my toil – whether it is perfect or whether it fails miserably. We know in our hearts that God is at work, but we cannot see the end and what our work will bring (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Solomon concludes that there is nothing better to do “than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Ecclesiastes 3:12).

…this is God’s gift to man.

Ecclesiastes 3:12

God gives us work and wants us to enjoy doing it. The amazing thing is that God – the all-powerful creator of the universe – invites us to join him in his work. He could accomplish it without us, yet he gives us work for us to enjoy and delight in. He lets us work alongside him, just like my mom used to let me work alongside her when she made cakes and pies. God longs for us to join him in his work, just like I want my kids to join me in cleaning up the kitchen.

So on the days when my work feels overwhelming, I don’t have to do it in my own strength. I don’t have to solve all the problems and figure out all the answers. I don’t have to pick up the work that no one else can do. I don’t have to run away from everyone and hide my inability. If I curl up under my desk and cry (which has happened before), God will meet me there. I can trust God to give me the strength to do the work that He has given to me to do that day. If He doesn’t give me the strength, time, and ability to do it, then it must not be mine to do.

On the days when my work doesn’t feel big enough or important enough, I don’t have take that on as my identity – not being enough. I don’t have to believe that this is all my life will ever be. I don’t have to go looking for the next project that will bring me the power and recognition I deserve. I can rest, knowing that what I am doing today, no matter how big or how small is the work God has given. I can enjoy doing whatever He has given to me to do today, even if it’s absolutely nothing.

On the morning I am writing this, the work God has given to me is to throw a big graduation party for my oldest daughter. I was up late finishing a t-shirt quilt and up early putting the pork roast in the oven. The tissue paper puffs have been made, and I’ll be building a balloon arch later. She did the floral arrangements herself, and we frosted cupcakes together last night. We have to put up tents, decorate tables, and build charcuterie boards, but this is the work God has given me today. I’m trusting that the food will be good enough and that people will come. I’m trusting that even if not everyone comes, that God will bring exactly who needs to be here. I’m reminding myself that parties are never about the food or the decor or my house; they are always about people. This is the work I will enjoy today.

What is the work that God is giving to you today?