Articles
“Work-Life Balance”
4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. 6 Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. 7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
(Ecclesiastes 4:4-8)
The Preacher of Ecclesiastes samples a variety of human pursuits to find out the meaning of life under the sun. He concludes by affirming his opening pronouncement that “all is vanity.” (12:8; 1:2) The word “vanity” appears thirty-eight times in the book and literally means “vapor.” It describes that which is fleeting, ephemeral and elusive, with different nuances depending on the context. When applied to work, it indicates that the topsy-turvy nature of this life and its inevitable end mean that we cannot depend on our career to provide us with any enduring meaning or value.
In 2:18-23, the Preacher laments that death spoils all the wealth and achievements accumulated by a life of labor. Even if chance or misfortune do not rob us of our wealth, death surely will (1 Tim. 6:7). When death does come and the estate must be divided and shared, the heirs might foolishly squander everything their parents worked so hard for. The Preacher returns to the theme of work in the passage above (4:4-8) and surveys four attitudes toward work.
The competitive workaholic (4) — Although there are exceptions to this statement (some work honestly, some love their craft, some work simply to survive), much of our hard work is motivated by “envy,” a jealous spirit of competition, the unhealthy craving to outshine others. Those who find their identity in their career and work out of envy are doomed to an empty, frustrating existence of “striving after the wind” (cf. Col. 3:24).
The impoverished sluggard (5) — Here is the opposite extreme. The “fool” despises frantic work-rivalries and simply “folds his hands,” that is, he quits working altogether (Prov. 6:10; 24:33). His error is just as destructive. His complacency and idleness eat away not only what he has but what he is (“eats his own flesh”), eroding his self-control, his grasp on reality, his capacity to care and provide and, in the end, his self-respect.
The self-centered miser (7-8) — Another common motivation for work is the accumulation of wealth (Lk. 12:15ff). Such people are “never satisfied with riches” (cf. 5:10). Collecting possessions can become an obsession that prevents logical thinking: though he has no family, he never thinks to ask why he is working so hard. The life devoted only to acquiring more for oneself is an empty and “unhappy business.” Although the example given here is someone without a family, the same is true of someone with a family. By pursuing wealth he creates his own loneliness by having no time to spend with his loved ones. He may even convince himself he is doing it all for them but he is only masking his private devotion to the idol of wealth (Mt. 6:24).
The balanced worker (6) — Only when we are properly oriented toward God (12:13-14) can we can find contentment in our work (2:23-24; Phil. 4:10ff). “A handful of quietness” conveys a two-fold thought of modest demands and inward peace. This is not the fool’s selfish laziness nor the workaholic’s rat-race mentality nor the miser’s greedy materialism. This is the attitude that recognizes “one handful” (having one’s needs met through a modest income) is “better” than “two hands full of toil and a striving after the wind.” (See also Prov. 30:7-9; 1 Tim. 6:6-10) May God be glorified through our balanced attitude toward work. May we learn to be content and grateful for, as well as generous with, what God has given us.
