Overwork | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · May 24, 1877

Overwork.

It is by no means the case that all persons are in danger of working beyond their proper strength. Many are in far greater danger of doing less than they should, rather than of going beyond what they are able to do. And those who constitute this very numerous class, are always ready to appreciate whatever may be said by way of caution to those who labor beyond their strength. Yet there are some who should be addressed on this point, and for such these words are written.

We do not, however, address all who work beyond their strength. Those who spend all their energies in the mad pursuit of wealth, grasping all that they can reach, and keeping all that they once get, are persons that can be spared without loss to their fellow-men. The pursuit of wealth is their greatest pleasure, and their chief good. Mammon is their god. For his service they will sacrifice everything else. To attempt to check such men, is labor lost. They must have riches, though they perish in the effort to obtain them. The world is not the better for their living in it; and if they do not live out half their days, there will be few to mourn their loss. The same may be said of all those whose aim in life is their own self-ends. If men will live for no higher objects than such as these, their self-destruction by unremitting toil is no occasion for general lamentation.

But there are men who live in the world to make it better. They do not seek in every act to benefit themselves, but to do some good, and that where it is most needed, to those around them. They live, not to see how much they can get out of others, but to see how much they can do to benefit and bless mankind. They do not belong to that class who say, “The world owes me a living,” for these are the drones, the blood-suckers, and the sharks among mankind. But they belong rather to that noble class who, though free from all, have made themselves the servants of all, and who consider themselves debtors to their fellow-men. These are the men and women who live not in vain; for their paths are strewn all the way with good deeds. And were there a thousand times as many such, the world would be the better for it. To belong to this class it is not necessary to possess great talents, nor to do deeds that shall give you renown among men. By far the greater part of all the good done in the world is done in a quiet and unobtrusive manner, that brings no fame to the one who does it. But it is all written in God's Book, and will one day be brought to the light.

It is to this class that a few words should be spoken. Some of these are ministers of the gospel, some are physicians, some are merchants, and many are engaged in the labors of the farm or the household. You may honor God and do good to men in all these fields of action. As you have noble motives to incite you to diligence, it is not necessary that I should urge you to be active, and to work with patient, untiring diligence. A different kind of counsel is needed in your case. Do not destroy yourself by overwork. You cannot do all that is suffering to be done, even though you labor till you drop down. Be careful to secure rest; not that you may indulge in sloth, but that you may renew your energies for the great work before you. Let no day pass without in some way doing something to benefit mankind. But remember that if you are broken in health yourself, you must become a tax upon others instead of helping those who need help. Those who wisely use their strength will accomplish the most in the end. By all means work while God gives you life, but do it wisely and prudently in his fear. With broken health our work cannot be well done.