If Time is Money, What is Energy?
I tweeted this last week:
It struck a chord in me, and I wasn’t even there to hear it live. (Thanks to all the Twitterers at Catalyst West and their amazing social media coverage of the event! #Catwest let me feel like I was in on the action while being 1800 miles away! Well done–specifically Brett Crimmel and the always reliable Tony Morgan.)
How many of us stagger through our days having no energy? We slog through the day trying to hammer through tasks and jobs that have little to do with what we’re passionate about. So we have no energy and we wonder why we hate our jobs. I believe there are theological reasons abound as to the connection between our jobs and our spiritual lives, suffice to say that most of us live believing that work is “just something you do” instead of something you’ve been “fashioned” and “crafted” to do.
At any rate, Warren is onto something. In those situations where we dislike what we do, it does not matter how well you manage your time, your energy went out the door before you could even hit “task one” on your to-do list.
I’ve been asking myself the question, “Lord what have you created me to do and to be?” In a real, concrete way, what have I been created to create? In my experience, when we’re living in the reality of what we’ve been fashioned to do, energy is never a problem.
Think about it, what takes up more energy?
- Getting up early to go to a dentist’s appointment to have a root canal?
- Getting up early to go to a conference that you’ve had on the calendar for six months?
- Writing the last page of a paper for a class that you absolutely loathe?
- Writing the last page of a book on a subject that you’ve waited all your life to write about?
You get the drift. And here’s the thing: The answers are out there. People will tell you that they aren’t, that sometimes “you have to do things that you don’t like to do,” but they’re out there. A lot of that criticism comes from people’s pain in never asking the question, “What am I uniquely crafted to do by God?”
You can ask. And you should. The energy of God’s Spirit is waiting to fill you up.
You might take a look at Elizabeth Dreyer's book Earth's Crammed with Heaven re: connection between everyday life and spirituality.
Good stuff J-Man.
Question: how do we muster God-given energy for the things that we don't like? For instance, I still have a year of college, and it gets harder and harder every day to find that energy and focus. Or for the part-time summer job that I probably have to get, but realistically might not be passionate about. How do I still have a passion for those things that I dont naturally have passion for?
I understand those are temporary situations, and long-term I plan on being in a vocation that I'm passionate about.. but I'd still like to harness energy right now in the short-term.
Current answer: caffeine.
VERY good question, Jeremy. I think life is always filled with those tasks that we don't like. It's good to find a profession that hits our core abilities & talents – but when Paul was shipwrecked, he wasn't thinking, "Oh yeah, I shoulda chosen a different job!"
Knowing the reason why we have to slog through sometimes helps. Dealing with the tedious bits of life is easier when we know what the end – or better yet – near-term – goal is.
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For me so much is about prioritizing my dreams and goals.