Breathless Work

There is honest hard work, and there is another kind: anxious, breathless striving that never feels like enough. Your chest tightens when you think about money. Every spare moment goes to the next deal. Security always seems one more push away.

Proverbs speaks right to that: “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.” It doesn’t forbid work. It warns against making riches the goal, and against trusting our own cleverness to get there.

Paul gives the alternative: “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Contentment isn’t giving up. It is the freedom of knowing that God is your security, so you can work hard without gasping for air.

If money has you breathless, slow down long enough to breathe. Then ask God what enough looks like for you.