<h2 id="1bb2e013-d9d1-44bc-a4d8-cc7cc3aa81fd" data-toc-id="1bb2e013-d9d1-44bc-a4d8-cc7cc3aa81fd" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Thorns and Thistles — Are You Actually Thriving? (Part 3)</h2>A friend of mine — an IT professional who spends his career running programs and analyzing data — recently got sent a video file he simply could not open. Frustrated, he said the words most of us have said at some point about our jobs: "Why does it have to be so hard?"He's not alone. Roughly half of American workers report significant work-related stress, often severe enough to spill over into home life. And it's not just about hours logged. A 2015 study in the Journal of Managerial Psychology found that burnout tracks closely with a mismatch between what we value and what our work actually rewards — when we're chasing status, approval, or money instead of purpose. Science is catching up to something Genesis told us long ago: work disconnected from its intended purpose wears us down.<h2 id="7d59fa6f-e5c1-4c96-80dd-9d97bc024ef3" data-toc-id="7d59fa6f-e5c1-4c96-80dd-9d97bc024ef3" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Work Was Never Supposed to Feel Like This</h2>In the first two newsletters in this series, we traced work back to its origin: God created the world, then made people to develop its potential. Work was part of paradise, not a punishment. So why does it so often feel like a battle?<h2 id="d2c798bf-6dd1-4bc6-a909-3c523d492bc7" data-toc-id="d2c798bf-6dd1-4bc6-a909-3c523d492bc7" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Where the Thorns Came From</h2>Genesis tells us Adam and Eve put their own interests above God's — and that rebellion changed everything, including work itself. Scripture describes the result as "painful toil," producing "thorns and thistles" alongside the harvest (Genesis 3:17-18 NIV). Those thorns show up today as opposition, setbacks, mistakes, and even sabotage.The pattern repeats at Babel, where people — motivated by pride and a desire to "make a name for themselves" — disobeyed God's instruction to spread out and steward the earth, and instead tried to build a monument to their own greatness (Genesis 11:1-4 NIV).<h2 id="c0613f02-fb7f-4f27-a1ba-bd0629d2409f" data-toc-id="c0613f02-fb7f-4f27-a1ba-bd0629d2409f" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">The Idols We Bring to the Office</h2>Underneath both stories is the same root: self-interest crowding out God's interest. Wanting more than we have, we sacrifice peace and relationships chasing money and power that never satisfy (Ecclesiastes 4:4-8 NIV). And the first commandment God ever gave was a warning against exactly this: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3 NIV). Yet most of us fill our work with idols — good things elevated to ultimate things.One of the most common modern idols is technology itself: if it can be done, we do it, rarely stopping to ask if it should be done.<h2 id="b79d0f5a-1d28-46d4-8f3a-b581fb2bfbf1" data-toc-id="b79d0f5a-1d28-46d4-8f3a-b581fb2bfbf1" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">So Why Is Work So Hard?</h2>Because since Adam and Eve, our relationship with God and with each other has been marred by rebellion, selfishness, pride, and idolatry. We're broken people trying to work — and love — in a broken world, and neither comes easily.That's not the end of the story, though. Scripture doesn't leave us stuck in the thorns, and the solution to this tension is exactly where we're headed next in this series.For now, I'd like to hear from you: what's one idol — technology, achievement, approval, control — that's quietly turning your work into thorns and thistles right now?I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can share them with me by <a target="" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.hpaulstanleycoaching.com/contact-dr-stanley/">clicking here</a>.<div style="text-align: center;"><hr></div><h2 id="bf9bfc73-6d5b-4698-b4f0-0d619cd98d68" data-toc-id="bf9bfc73-6d5b-4698-b4f0-0d619cd98d68" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Did you find this helpful? Would you like more — but not too much more?</h2>Once every two weeks, I send a short, practical article focused on living a less stressful, more abundant life — helping you maintain life balance and grow mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially over time.You can subscribe by <a target="" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.hpaulstanleycoaching.com/stress-relief---life-balance-news-tips-opt-in/">clicking here</a>.

Work wasn't meant to feel like a fight. Genesis explains why it does — and why the exhaustion you feel at work isn't just about hours or workload.

Thorns and Thistles — Are You Actually Thriving? (Part 3) 

Work Was Never Supposed to Feel Like This

Did you find this helpful? Would you like more — but not too much more?

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Thorns and Thistles — Are You Actually Thriving? (Part 3)

Thorns and Thistles — Are You Actually Thriving? (Part 3)

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