Final Thought – Triple Helix – Winter 2019

‘…there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work…’ (Ecclesiastes 3:22)

Several years ago, I padlocked my bicycle at the end of Harley Street, for about one hour. It was chained with two locks. The bike and the chains disappeared. The bike appeared on Gumtree a few days later. I went on to purchase a new bike. I am quite tall, but while the new bike looked a bit smaller than my old one, I didn’t think it would be a problem. As time wore on, however, I began to develop a pain in my left leg after long rides. The bike and my body were not as good a fit as I had first thought.

A life in medicine or nursing can be like this. When the job is a comfortable fit, work can be enjoyable and satisfying despite the inherent frustrations. If, on the other hand, the fit is not right or becomes wrong, work will become difficult and uncomfortable. Do you stay or do you move? Are the pains symptomatic that God is working on you, knocking off a few edges, or is it time to move on?

As the philosopher says, ‘…there’s a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away…’ (Ecclesiastes 3:6). Is God prompting you to open your eyes and look around and seek his direction? Do you stay and push through the pain because God is calling you to stay, or move on, shaking the dust from your shoes? Either way, we hear from God best when we make such decisions with the support and prayerful fellowship of other believers.