Seeking Situations (1904)

Ralph Hedley’s Seeking Situations (1904) shows persons in an early twentieth-century library reviewing the job adverts (‘situations’) in the local newspapers. The smart chap in the centre looks like a bank clerk, while the woman likely seeks shop work. The man in the foreground looks particularly dejected, presumably having scanned the pages in vain. He is down at heel: his bowler hat indicates that he was once a foreman, but his shabby clothes cannot hide his current ill-fortune.

Although work and employment can mean drudgery and even exploitation, its absence usually means poverty or selfish idleness. God created us to have a role, to play a part, to contribute. Worklessness, like drudgery and slavery, demeans a person. In a fallen world, there will always be aspects of work we may not enjoy, but in the Kingdom of God, there is always work to be done which brings Him glory. So find what God calls you to do, and do it, and do it well.