Why Is It So Difficult To Keep Up With My Work?

Today's post for our series on Building a Soft Place to Land was written by Sarah Mae from Like a Warm Cup of Coffee.

photo credit: Pandiyan

Do you ever wonder why it's so difficult to keep up with your work?
Do you ever feel like no matter what you do things just get messy anyway so why bother?
Do you ever feel depressed and overwhelmed at the work that just keeps piling up - whether it's cleaning, meal planning, or projects?

There is a reason that the laundry keeps piling up along with dishes, projects around the house seem never ending, and in general with all of our tasks, everything just seems to tend toward chaos.

Two words: The Curse

Oh let me tell you about that darn little curse that God pronounced on our domains as a judgement:

"Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field..." (Genesis 3:17-18)

Because of Adam's sin, our domains rebel against us as we have rebelled against God. Our commands to rule, subdue, and be productive are all the harder to fulfill. Everything is heading toward decay, and we are striving against it. No matter how many loads of laundry we do, there will always be dirty clothes. No matter how many times we clean the kitchen, for as long as we live it will get messy again. This is all part of the curse. Work is not the curse, unproductive work is.

So how do we overcome the curse?

We have to keep our eye on the eternal value of our work. If we are in Christ, then everything we do not only has value here on earth, but it has value for eternity. We have work that was created by God for us to do, and we have the power, approval, and authority to carry it out. We also have to remember that the Lord is using our domains, and the struggles, to perfect us in our worship and service to Him.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1: 2-4

How we take care of our domains is all about our response to God. He gave us our domains, He gave us, as women, the ability to give life to them! We have to decide what our response to Him will be. Will we respond grudgingly, and feel hopeless because it's just another "rule" to follow, or will we accept our tasks with joy, giving thanks for all the goodness and blessings we have been given?

Remember, He knows our weakness, and He's not looking for perfection Taking care of our domains is something to cling to, to take joy and honor in, and ultimately is something that will lead us toward Christ like character and humility. And if you're anything like me, we need all the grace we can get!

Now go clean something for the glory of God! :)

Sarah Mae from Like a Warm Cup of Coffee is a homemaker who is inspired by Jesus, coffee, poetry, art, love, good music, kisses from her little ones in the middle of the day and lying in a field staring up into the wild blue...It is her desire to grow and journey with you as we learn together how to be godly wives and mothers.