Looking for a way around the hard work?

“What did the Minutemen do and which goods were taxed by the Stamp Act?” I am doing my best to be patient. But. Fourth-grade homework isn’t for the faint of heart. My little guy turns himself sideways and flails about in his desk because Mom, does it really matter? We don’t have any of those things anymore? Minutes and stamps are so boring. Clearly, he is going to ace his Social Studies test.

My eighth grader has math that makes no sense (does any math make sense?), my high schooler is drowning in AP Government documents, my own work is piled in stacks across my office floor and my husband can’t see straight for all of his upcoming deadlines.

Hard work seems to be the theme around here this week. And along with my melodramatic fourth grader, we are all asking: Why? Why does this have to be so hard? Is there a way around all of this work? Realizing that work is hard, constant and required is something that can hit you between the eyes at any time. Whether you spend your days building buildings, painting pictures, teaching children, changing diapers, making spreadsheets or sitting in a classroom, you want to do work that is important, work that matters and makes a difference. But sometimes, you just don’t want it to be so hard. I find that I walk right into that wanting each day and push hard against it.

Lord, aren’t you going to give me work to do that will bring you glory and make the world better? Then, why, Lord? Why all of the hard and boring stuff? 

“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” (Nehemiah 6:3).

These little words from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah are the ones that come to mind when I start down the rabbit hole of thinking about work that is hard and unending. God always uses this story to turn me away from my circumstances and back to him.

Here’s a little history to help it all make sense (just a little history, I promise it won’t be as boring as the Stamp Act).

Nehemiah was a Jew, one of God’s chosen people, living in captivity in Babylon during the Old Testament times. When the Jews were finally released from their captivity, God gave Nehemiah some work to do. God laid it on Nehemiah’s heart to rebuild the wall around the sacred city of Jerusalem. Huge job for a man who was just the cupbearer to the king. Work that God gave him to do. This means that it’s going to be easy and go well with him, right? God’s going to make it all perfect and the amazing beautiful wall will be rebuilt and Nehemiah will just spend his days marveling at this great accomplishment.

We think this, don’t we? When we step into new work that we are even slightly convinced God has called us to, we think that it will just go well with us. We think that it should never be boring or hard or have obstacles. And then it does. And we look around wondering what went wrong.

Maybe that is what Nehemiah thought when he began to work on the wall. Because it did start that way. God cleared out many of the obstacles and Nehemiah prayed a lot. But then the work began. The actual clearing of the rubble and the laying of the stones. The back aching, mind-numbing work of building a wall. The challenges of getting the people to work together and of fending off their enemies all at the same time were overwhelming. Sound familiar?

And all of these things tried to distract Nehemiah from what God had called him to do. People had other plans for him; they wanted to meet with him. They begged to be deemed more important than the building, the stacking and the wall making.

But Nehemiah would not relent. He stayed up on that wall. He stacked the bricks. He bolted the gates. He encouraged the people and he sent down word to all of the distracting things.

I am doing a great work and I cannot come down (Nehemiah 6:3).

He just kept working. Lots of folks thought this wall he was building was nothing. They thought it didn’t matter. But here’s the thing. Nehemiah didn’t have his eyes on lots of people. He had his eyes on God. He knew that this was work the Lord had called him to do. He knew that it was holy. And he also knew that it wasn’t really about the walls anyway.

The work that God was doing among his people back then was not measured in brick and mortar or length and height. He was rebuilding a people from the inside out; rebuilding their hearts and teaching them what it meant to trust him again. The wall was not the great work. God’s presence with his people was the great work. God didn’t want the wall. He wanted the people.

And here I stand with my people, hands full of work stacked precariously high, with these questions I dare to ask God about how hard these tasks are; about whether or not I have to do all of the things and God whispers…

Are you looking at the wall or at me? The work is never really about the product as much as it is about your heart. So listen to how I lead you. Lay down your ideas of greatness, and if I give you hard work, small work, or unseen work, then do it. It is how you will come to see me doing a great work in you. I don’t want your perfect wall, I want your heart. I want you. So trust me and go on, get back to work. Walk with me [Jesus] and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace … Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11: 28-30 Msg.)