All hard work brings profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 14:23
This post is inspired by chapter one of The Wise Man & the Fool. This is the first lesson that the characters learn in the parable-like story. In this lesson, both men did equally well. They were both hard workers and learned to earn an honest wage. The differences between the two men — the wise man and the foolish one — appear later in the book.
As I observe hard-working believers the world over, I find this to be a common truth. Almost all of the Christians I know are people with a good work ethic who understand the value of an honest day’s work. Yet many of those people still experience financial difficulty in their lives and find themselves living from paycheck to paycheck.
That does not negate the value of this verse; it is an essential starting-point in the journey out of financial difficulty.
That said, there is much to think about with respect to this verse. We need to consider it in the light of other verses. For instance,
The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.
Ecclesiastes 10:15
At first glance, this verse appears to contradict Proverbs 14:23 and points to the futility of working tirelessly, day after day.
Then there are verses like,
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:1-2
This verse really speaks to me when I consider my career in the corporate world. I recall a time when I woke up at 05h00 each morning. I would leave the house at 06h00 and face a grueling one and a half hour commute into the office. This was followed by nine hours — or sometimes ten — of work and endless meetings that ranged from tedious to pointless, but for which I received my monthly wage. Then followed the commute back home for another one and a half hours, assuming there were no traffic incidents en route. I usually arrived home between 18h00 and 19h00 in the evening. And I did this for eight years.
It was exhausting.
During that period of my life, I gained a deep understanding of Psalm 127:2. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat.
Profitable Work vs the Toil of Fools
So how should we equate these two polarized views of hard work in the Bible?
The clue lies in Proverbs 127:1; unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. We need to understand what ‘house’ the Lord is building in our lives and then get with the program.
The difference is intent. And intent goes to why we choose to work hard. If we are simply working hard to earn a living and pay bills, we are engaged in the toil of fools. On the other hand, when we are intentional about putting God first in our lives and seeking his kingdom, we can begin to build our job and the work we do around that goal. In this case, our work becomes a short-term means to a greater end; establishing God’s kingdom in our own lives and in the world around us.
As believers, we understand this truth with regards to the pursuit of riches. Don’t chase after wealth and riches, we tell ourselves; life is not all about making lots of money. But the same rule applies to how we make our living and pay the rent each month. If life isn’t all about making lots of money, it most certainly isn’t all about making ends meet. Where is God in either of those pursuits?
If life isn’t all about making lots of money, it most certainly isn’t all about making ends meet. Where is God in either of those pursuits?
So how can we break the cycle, and ensure that we are doing profitable work but not engaging in the toil of fools? The secret lies in finding work that creates, or offers us, the freedom to seek God’s kingdom in our lives. For me, a job that devoured most of my waking hours and all of my energy, leaving me with no time to seek God’s kingdom or understand his purposes in my life, was the toil of fools. It paid the bills but left me exhausted and unfulfilled. It also left me unable to spend time on the things that were most important to me; my family and my relationship with God.
The change required some tough choices on my part. I left that job and embarked on a new adventure. That choice drastically reduced my income. My wife and I had a tough year, financially, as we adjusted to the new normal and figured out how to navigate this new lifestyle. I had a lot less money, but I had so much more time and energy! It was both terrifying and invigorating.
I have heard it said that people should learn to work smart, not hard. I subscribe to this philosophy insofar as, to me, ‘smart’ means making choices that create the space — read time — for me to seek God’s kingdom and understand what that kingdom looks like in my life. But, I have to acknowledge, those choices were not always easy. They made for a bumpy ride, financially, as my income reduced in the short term and bills began mounting up. This forced me to look at my whole approach to income and expenditure in a new way. I had to break a raft of culturally-ingrained spending patterns, centered around the love of money, and learn to make better financial decisions with the money I earned.
Yes, we should work smart, not hard — but we need to work hard at working smart.
Ironically, two years on, I am in a place where I earn more money than I did in my previous job. Only, now I work from home for the most part. I have more time to read and meditate on God’s word, and to share his word with others. I have more time to spend with my family. I have more time to pray too but, I confess, this is an area in which I struggle; I remain a work in progress.
I am still very much walking this journey and, I guess, will continue walking it as long as I live. However, I have committed to making more intentional decisions about how I earn my income as well as how I spend my money. Those decisions aim to put God first, to seek the kingdom and to work on the house that God is building in my life rather than on the toil of fools. I have chosen a job that fits around that objective, rather than one that encroaches on it.
As a result, I feel more energized than I have in years past. This because, today, I experience the promise in Psalm 127:2; he grants sleep to those he loves. It does not mean that I am living a life of leisure, however; it merely equips me to live a life of service to his kingdom. And that has made all the difference.