The Missing Backstory to Your Everyday Work

For a short stint last summer, both my adult daughters were living with us. My oldest was waiting to move into the new house she had just purchased, and my younger daughter was home for a month in between ministry assignments.

It was a glorious few weeks.

But the joy of having our girls close did come with some tradeoffs—namely, lots of chick flicks and relationship dramas on TV. One night I came home to a Gilmore Girls marathon. Yes, Gilmore Girls.

I sat on the edge of the couch for a few minutes, trying to grasp the storyline. Five minutes in, I’d heard about Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and someone named Dean. And it seemed like all of Stars Hollow was emotionally invested in something that apparently happened three seasons ago. I was just trying to figure out why everyone was talking so fast and whether I was supposed to be rooting for Luke or concerned about him.

I gave up, grabbed a book, and went outside on the patio.

Trying to Make Sense of the Middle

There’s nothing worse than walking in on the middle of a story. You don’t know the origins of anything that’s unfolding and it’s impossible to predict where the narrative is heading or get an accurate read on any of the characters.

I think this is why so many of us struggle to understand our everyday work—we came in on the middle of the story. We have no context for where human work came from or why it exists in the first place. And frankly, it’s hard to make sense of it sometimes.

I wish I didn’t have to work so hard, but I also feel this sense of identity and accomplishment in my work. What’s that all about? I know I have to earn a living, but is there a purpose for my job beyond just feeding my family?

Many of us find our day-jobs frustrating, devoid of meaning, and disconnected from our faith. Like my attempt to jump into Gilmore Girls in season three, we’re missing some essential context for the storyline!

But what if we could zoom out? What if we could see all the seasons and all the episodes? What if we understood where the story actually began and where it’s all going?

Zooming Out to See the Whole Story

The Bible doesn’t treat our work as a random subplot. It places it inside a much bigger story—one that begins in creation and carries all the way through new creation. Scripture unfolds a narrative in four acts:

Creation—Fall—Redemption—Restoration.

Let’s go back to the beginning (cue the classic wavy dream-sequence fade)…

Season One: Creation

We see the cosmos spoken into existence in Genesis 1-2. Scholars believe the creation account is not just about physical creation but functional creation. Not just what are things made of, but what are they made for?

And when we get to humans, we stumble across something fascinating:

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15)

You and I were created to partner with God in cultivating and caring for His creation. As image bearers of God, we work in divine partnership with the Maker of the universe—created by a creator God to co-create with Him.

That’s the origin of an epic plotline. In the beginning there was work.

Season Two: Fall

But because every good plot has tension, you knew someone had to come along and screw things up! We don’t even get more than a few episodes in before humanity falls victim to the brokenness of Genesis 3. Sin separates us from our Creator and distorts God’s design for all things, including human work.

Our co-creator role becomes all twisted up in the thorns and thistles of a fallen world. The function is still there, but what was once a joy becomes a struggle. The work that was once filled with limitless purpose and possibility became a hollow shell of the divine partnership it was designed to be.

Season Three: Redemption

Hang tight though. Season three is epic!

God looked across the sin-divide at the withering distortion of what His beloved creation was intended to be and refused to leave us there. The reconnection of heaven and earth started with a man (Abraham) and then a people (Israel). Then God established His outpost in a temporary tabernacle that ultimately became a more permanent Temple. But He wasn’t finished yet.

The Creator God Himself became flesh and blood and physically moved into the neighborhood! His life, death, and resurrection defeated death and the principalities and powers of this fallen world, and inaugurated a renewal of creation that began to grow among the fallen remnants.

This “already but not yet” is the season we live in today—the new resurrected Kingdom exists alongside the old. With Christ in us, you and I have become the temple. We are the overlap between heaven and earth. We are the sprouts of the new creation growing up among the thorns and thistles of this fallen world.

Season Four: Restoration

We’re not done yet. This is a four-season story arc! The Bible is moving toward a final episode guaranteed to be less controversial than the series finales of Lost or Stranger Things. Christ will return and all creation will be completely restored.

This is not a recast. It’s not a spin-off. Creation isn’t going to be swapped out for something new (like Aunt Viv in season four of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air).

Fully and completely restored. God and man dwelling together once again. All of creation will become the Temple once again!

Within this restoration storyline, our daily work will return to its rightful place and purpose within the created order. The thorns and thistles will be gone. The purposelessness and toil will melt away in the presence of Jesus.

This finale gets a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score every time.

You’re Living in Season Three

But just like my mid-season insert into that Gilmore Girls summer marathon, most of us have only seen the season right in front of us and are missing the full context. Without the first two seasons and the promise of season four, season three can feel wildly disorienting.

Even for followers of Christ, our everyday work often gets lost in the meaningless drudgery of the not yet, devoid of the purpose and redemptive intent of the renewal that is already here. But we can live differently when we see the whole story.

Human work was perfectly created by God.

Human work was gravely distorted by the Fall.

Human work is being redeemed by Jesus (you are here).

Human work will be completely restored at the return of Christ.

We are called to be the already in the not yet—a taste of the beauty that was meant to be and is yet to come among the collision of two kingdoms. It’s not always going to be easy. It’s not always going to feel good. But when we understand the complete story arc, we can embrace the beauty and the brokenness to the glory of God in whatever we put our hands to today.

This is the epic storyline you’ve been invited into through Christ—yes, even through your everyday work. Let’s step fully into our roles as the beloved supporting cast in His Great Story.