An important emphasis on the rise in business circles is work-life balance. The idea is to seek equilibrium between the amount of time spent working and that devoted to other concerns like family and leisure. It is believed that disproportionate allocation of time to work can lead to stress and burnout, not to mention its adverse effect on family life and other important areas. I think there is a sense in which we can talk of work-trust balance. In our previous meditation, we emphasized the need to labour over a sustained period of time before we can meaningfully hope for a breakthrough. Without any further footnote, someone may fly off with the impression that the only requirement is hard work. Some with this frame of mind have worked themselves to their graves, while others reaped nothing but a harvest of frustration.

The psalmist noted categorically that it is not labour alone that gets the house built. Regardless of how hard one labours, it will be all futile without God’s input. So God’s grace is an irreplaceable factor in our quest for success and prosperity. Jesus may have had this thought in mind when He said to His disciples, “Without me you can do nothing”. Before that, He had told them of the need for Him to abide in them and they in Him. Just as the branch cannot produce fruits if detached from the vine, neither can they bear fruit without Him. There is the God factor in the pursuit of life. Knowing this will help us maintain what we called the work-trust balance. We must know where personal efforts stops and where our trust in God’s grace and favour kicks in to pull us through.