{"id":172,"date":"2012-02-27T06:58:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T13:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/"},"modified":"2012-02-27T06:58:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-27T13:58:00","slug":"cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Can’t Find Satisfaction at Work? You’re Right on Track."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\nLast week, I opened<\/a> up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was a sorry sap, a man looking for satisfaction in all the wrong things.
<\/span>
\u201cVanity of Vanities,<\/b>\u201d he wrote.<\/span>
<\/span><\/i>
\u201c<\/b>So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.<\/span>\u00a0What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?<\/i>\u00a0All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.\u201d<\/i><\/span>
<\/span><\/i><\/span>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

As I pulled my pants on this morning and buttoned my shirt, I have to admit that some\u00a0similar\u00a0thoughts ran through my head. Does it really matter what I do?<\/b> Am I making a difference? Isn\u2019t it true that if I were to leave, then 100 would be ready to step in my place \u2014 many of them better suited for the work?<\/span>
<\/span><\/b>
Maybe Solomon was right.<\/b> What do we get for all the toil and anxious striving? In today\u2019s age, when the pay doesn\u2019t go up but the workload is increasing not just in percentages, but exponentially as company\u2019s continue to make do without hiring. Sure I get a paycheck at the end of two weeks, but that just makes me a hireling \u2014 a man who will do anything for money.<\/span>

<\/span>But I know better.<\/span>

<\/span>I enjoy what I do. Like a beaming third grader, I do my work well so the boss will be happy. I want the company to succeed, even prosper and do my part to make it function. I like my coworkers and anticipate my time with them.\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>However, I am not a person who finds his satisfaction in his work alone. I cannot put my trust in my labor, hoping that it satisfies the ache in my soul.\u00a0<\/b><\/span>

If I do, I\u2019ll be found wanting in the end. That was Solomon\u2019s quest, his fruitless pursuit.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
<\/span><\/i>
\u201cThere is a God-shaped hole,\u201d Pascal wrote. And that hole cannot be filled by anything less than a relationship with Jesus.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>My job, profession, or occupation will never fill it. That\u2019s why work can feel so hollow at times. It was supposed to be like this.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/span>
So when I get frustrated today, it will be a reminder of where my passions should be. Sorry boss, but it\u2019s not in my office. I\u2019ve my eyes focused on distant fields.<\/span>

<\/span>
Does your work satisfy you? Does it fulfill you? Or is there something missing?\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was a sorry sap, a man looking for satisfaction in all the wrong things.\u201cVanity of Vanities,\u201d he wrote.\u201cSo I hated life, because the work that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,621,817,937],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecclesiastes","category-pascal","category-solomon","category-vanities"],"yoast_head":"\nCan't Find Satisfaction at Work? You're Right on Track.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can't Find Satisfaction at Work? You're Right on Track.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-27T13:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/coconutheadsets.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/sisyphus.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rupzip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/\",\"name\":\"Can't Find Satisfaction at Work? You're Right on Track.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-27T13:58:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-27T13:58:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\"},\"description\":\"Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can’t Find Satisfaction at Work? You’re Right on Track.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Rupert\"},\"description\":\"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com\",\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can't Find Satisfaction at Work? You're Right on Track.","description":"Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can't Find Satisfaction at Work? You're Right on Track.","og_description":"Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/","og_site_name":"David Rupert","article_author":"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","article_published_time":"2012-02-27T13:58:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/coconutheadsets.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/sisyphus.jpg"}],"author":"David Rupert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rupzip","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rupert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/","name":"Can't Find Satisfaction at Work? You're Right on Track.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-27T13:58:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-27T13:58:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81"},"description":"Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/cant-find-satisfaction-at-work-youre-right-on-track\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can’t Find Satisfaction at Work? You’re Right on Track."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/","name":"David Rupert","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81","name":"David Rupert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Rupert"},"description":"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com","www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}