The Audacity of Co-Laboring with God
“Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his.”
The most productive people aren't the most focused on productivity.
They play. They take naps. They keep the Sabbath or practice a digital sabbath. They often work consistently but for short periods of time.
One study found that those who worked 70 hours in a week got no more done than those who worked 55 — but likely experienced much more stress.
Many who have done the most here on earth had an eye on heaven. Look at Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr. or Dorothy Day.
We don't have to “produce” anything for God to love us, but internalizing this truth may lead us to produce more than ever.
In Redeeming Your Time, Jordan Raynor writes, “Working to earn someone’s favor is exhausting, but working in response to unconditional favor is intoxicating.”
Raynor continues, “Once we realize that God accepts us no matter how many good things we do, we want to be productive for his agenda as a loving act of worship.”
Clearly, we are not God, and yet we are “God’s co-workers” (1 Cor 3:9). We have the opportunity to cooperate with God's initiative.
And it can be astounding what God can do with us.
The following video originally appeared at IgnatianSpirituality.com, a service of Loyola Press. Posts this month have explored the theme of “The Audacity of Ignatian Spirituality.” And for those of you in the Ignatian/Jesuit world who will celebrate this Wednesday, happy feast!