Boredom and 'Dead work' in your job / daily routine.

We're in the midst of a sermon series on work and faith here at EPC.  What place does God have in our daily work life?  A big one, if you look at Scripture.  But how do we integrate our faith in the dull parts of our vocation? Boredom with our work is always a possibility, but it is likely that even boredom and so called "dead work" has a bigger purpose.

When we serve the Lord in our work, we eventually do away with the wasteful tasks that undermine our effectiveness.  Since we're beginning to serve God instead of just our boss every task has the potential of taking on greater significance.  We're reminded in Colossians 3:23 (ESV)

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

Brett & Kate McKay write,

...there is an almost universal optical illusion with reference to work: each of us is fully conscious of the dead work in his own calling...with the tasks of others, he sees only the finished product. Thus each is inclined to...envy the apparently easier and happier tasks of others. You sit down in an audience room, and some master at the piano sweeps you out on to the bosom of the sea of emotion...The evening of melody is over; there is the moment of awed silence and then the storm of applause; you go home exclaiming, “What genius!”...But no exaggerated talent would take a man far, without the capacity for hard work; and what you forget, as you listen to the finished art of the master genius, is the days and nights of consecrated toil...

Rev. Chuck Wanock writes,

...have you ever thought of boredom as the shadowside of competence?  By that I mean, if you get bored with what you’re doing occasionally, it could be you’re good at doing it..

Both articles that treat boredom and dead work in more detail.  One is from the perspective of a pastor and the other from an average employee. Check 'em out here and here.