The Glory of Drudgery

“Is not life on earth a drudgery?”
- Job 7:1 (NABRE)

Drudgery is not a term we utilize much these days, but it fully embodies the meaning of the word when we say it. It means “hard menial or dull work.” Just say it out loud. You experience its meaning in the pronunciation. A synonym of drudgery is “donkey work.”

Job expresses his suffering in Job 7:1-2 as such work. The New King James Version translates the verse as, “Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man? Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade, And a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,…”

Drudgery is all the stuff we know we should do daily, but hate to do. The necessary “to dos” that if neglected for long cause havoc in our life. The stuff that no one applauds, rewards or even notices most of the time. Yet, it is vital.

The neglect of drudgery is peril. I have often told my daughters, “Success in life is dependent on how well you can navigate loneliness, boredom and failure.” Oftentimes we find ourselves facing these three menaces because we neglect the drudgery.

We neglect to spend the time with family and friends to foster our relationships with the result of loneliness. We neglect to lay the groundwork for fulfilling our purpose and in the place of purpose we find boredom. We neglect the menial work necessary for success and are frustrated by failure. We can never avoid facing these three menaces all together. However, far to often we are tormented by them because of our own choice; the choice to neglect the donkey work that would have changed our circumstances.

Paul talks about how we should approach this type of work in our lives in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 (I encourage you to read the whole passage). He states, “But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distress, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumult, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fasting;…”

In other words, when you find yourself confronted by drudgery, act as a minister of God. Do what needs to be done as unto the Lord. And do the donkey work, as he states in verses 6-7, “…by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and the left,…”.

Drudgery often seems meaningless at the time, but we are called to redeem the time. Where the simplest things (even when they are hard and debasing) become God moments. Like when Jesus in John 13 humbled Himself and washed his disciples feet. It wasn’t just a symbolic gesture. It was a necessary activity before Passover usually performed by a servant. It was donkey work that had to be done. Yet, He made the lowest drudgery the highest form of service to God. Stating in John 13:15, “For I have given to you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”

In the midst of drudgery, it is easy to loath life and have a pity party. Primarily because we often cannot see the greater purpose. We are blind to how this serves us. That is when we need to shift our focus to how this moment serves God. As Corrie Ten Boom once wrote, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

We all face drudgery. There is always donkey work to be done. Do not neglect it, but face it “by the Holy Spirit…by the power of God.” Trust the living Lord to live through you. Trust the engineer to take you through the darkness of drudgery. And you will find of those times, those are the moments that create the foundation for a greater life.

© 2026 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.