What looks like bad work to you? It can be a very personal thing – I was surprised when I told people about leading Redeem the Commute, and they said, “I’m glad someone is doing it, but especially glad it’s not me.”

I watched a TV show lately about a tow truck driver – it showed him going about his work in the middle of the night, doing a job many wouldn’t want. But he said he’d tried multiple jobs, hated them all – and then found the towing business and it just fit. He’d found his passion for work, even though other people would hate it working those late nights, alone, at risk and dealing with mechanical work.

There are definitely bad jobs out there – some are really awful, which became apparent with media coverage, for example, of the textile industry in Bangladesh.

Some jobs aren’t terrible themselves, they are just a bad fit.

And there are some good jobs that we see in the wrong light – something about us means they are less than they should be. We might think they’ll be much more than they are, or we might think too highly of ourselves to do certain kinds of work, even though they are good.

Question: What’s the worst job you ever had? What made it so bad? Was it bad for everyone, or just you?

Acknowledgements: Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavour and Work & Rest

Ryan Sim - May 29, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Worry

Today we see why worrying is useless…for us, at least. We can't make our lives longer. We can actually shorten our lives with worry. The line that Jesus used could even mean making bodies longer…which is definitely not something that happens after adulthood. God provides in nature - not a direct drop from heaven - but he's readied nature. UN: The greatest scandal of our age is the fact that just under 1 billion people on the planet go to bed hungry every night. This is despite the fact that we produce more than enough to feed every single person in the world. The problem is not a shortage but rather that the undernourished who need food most cannot access it. God also provides through others – generosity God does this in a world where trouble and accidents happen. We will not avoid them. This is not a promise you won’t meet with trouble. But don’t worry, or become anxious about it. You were made for eternity anyway. Jesus is saying you are much more than that - made for heaven. Think of a Panda - it eats bamboo almost all the time it's awake. We humans are made for much more than sustenance. In famines, this kind of single focus may be necessary. But this is not the usual condition for us. More relevantly today in the West, we are meant for more than selfish ambition. We are made for loving, giving, caring, serving. Question: What has God already put in our world to answer your worry concerns?

Related Topics: Anxiety, Fear, Worry | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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