Anxiety About WorkSýnishorn

Enjoy work despite anxiety

If the dictionary is right that anxiety comes from uncertainty or lack of control, then anxiety may often be part of your work experience.

No person has perfect control or certainty about the future. God is the only one with perfect knowledge and power. It’s true that you do have important workplace responsibilities. You plan for contingencies, and you try to know as much as you can about your competitive environment. But in the end, there’s a gap between what you know and the big question mark of the future. That’s always been true. As the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it: “Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?” (Ecclesiastes 8:7)

This might cause anxiety at work, but it can also be a great source of relief. Since you do not have ultimate control over the outcome of your work, you are free to enjoy what you can and leave the results up to God. The writer of Ecclesiastes urges you to do this, saying, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Your daily work can be an important source of fulfillment, even if the outcome is ultimately out of your hands.

When you accept God’s control over the outcomes of your work, you are more likely to enjoy work as it comes. You can better appreciate the good times at work, and you are relieved to recognize your lack of control in the bad times. The book of Ecclesiastes concludes: it is God’s gift to be able to enjoy your work, not to control it.

Fear, worry, and insecurity have always been a part of the human experience. The Bible does not contain an easy fix for workplace anxiety. Instead, the Bible repeats this simple advice that is easy to say but challenging to follow: Trust God. Do your best at work and let go of the outcome.

Anxieties and difficult situations will come and go at work. But God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Prayer: God, I give you control over my work today in all its troubles and frustrations. Please guide me towards peaceful acceptance of your power. Take charge of the outcome of my work and remove my anxiety. Amen.

If you enjoyed this plan, find more plans from the Theology of Work Project at www.theologyofwork.org/devotions