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https://youtu.be/MV3ov7Exp1U As we encounter and experience Jesus through worship and go deeper into relationship with him through his living and active Word, we find that he wants to work in us and show us our purpose. 1: We were designed to fulfil a purpose In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) God created mankind in his own image (Genesis 1:27) We see from these two verses that God is creative and that we are made in his image - we were built to create something too! And it’s also true that he made us all unique, which means we have a unique role in our families, workplaces, church and society. We have work to do that it bespoke to us, exciting, satisfying and fruit-bearing! 2: Work is not a punishment / result of the Fall: The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15) As part of a perfect world with no sin, no weeds, no earthquakes or disease, God gave Adam a responsibility. I imagine he could prune, discover, learn about herbs (but not for healing!), tree types, begin to use wood, build, expand, create musical instruments, machinery, bridges, and as humanity grew in a perfect world, things would have looked very different. In this unfallen world that God had made, work could not have been a punishment or a burden. If we are to reflect the Kingdom that is in God’s nature and not our own we will find work that is satisfying and enjoyable, just made for us to do. 3: God hasn’t stopped working He made you and saved you (if you’ve accepted Jesus as your saviour)! 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  God did the initial work of creating us but he also came to earth to save us so he could do the work of salvation. We played no part in our redemption except to receive it. We are his handiwork. Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8) So the first thing to do is stop trying too hard, go back to values 1 and 2 and worship Jesus, get into his word and receive the finished work that He has already done for us. You cannot save yourself and you cannot self-improve to the heights that God has destined for you. 4: There is work for us to do that has been prepared in advance 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) There are good works for us to do and they were prepared in advance for us. Whenever you take a new job on, you were appointed because there was something that needed doing. The work needed doing before you were called upon. When I took my first job as a teacher, my boss met up with me before the first term and handed over lesson plans, worksheets, programmes of study and soon afterwards I received my timetable. The work was prepared in advance for me to do it, I was brought into the school and only I was appointed to teach those classes. I was not brought into the school because I was bored or needed the money and the school took pity on me or saw it as their role to keep me occupied until retirement. They wanted me and they needed me! I was selected where other candidates were not, because the governors thought I was the man for the job. In the same way, God does not create jobs to keep people busy while they are waiting for heaven. He also does not put anyone on earth to do nothing. He creates people because there is work to be done. He crafted you purposefully and carefully so that you might do the works prepared in advance for you to do. He placed you on earth on the day you were born so you could be alive today. He has a plan, and we don’t know the half of it! His plan is bigger than us - we just have to play our part.