a drop of water

Any work done faithfully and well is difficult.  It is not harder for me to do my job well than for any other person, and no less.  There are no easy tasks in the Christian way; there are only tasks that can be done faithfully or erratically, with joy or with resentment.  And there is no room for any of us, pastors or grocers, accountants or engineers, word processors or gardeners, physicians or teamsters, to speak in tones of self-pity of the terrible burdens of our work.

p. 76-77, Eugene Peterson, The Long Obedience in the Same Direction

Reading this was like being doused with a bucket of cold water because I am very guilty of speaking in tones of self-pity towards my work tasks that I do erratically and with resentment.  But God is reminding me that he has given each of us no more than we can handle.  I have to realize that the spiritual qualities of those I look up to is not merely a result of them doing a specific type of work, but them doing the difficult work they have been given, faithfully and with joy.  Often times I see those who I look up to for just their spiritual leadership, discernment or wisdom, when that is really the tip of the iceberg of God’s work in them.  The tasks that are difficult for them are of no less and no more relative difficulty than the tasks that I see as difficult in my life.  It is the finding of God in those difficult times that deeply instructs us about him, how to trust him, and how to love him.