made for work?

I found myself the other day listening to a preacher who said that "we are made for work". I don't exactly recall how he backed this up, but his premise was that God made us for work. We were designed for certain functions, gifted in various ways, made for work. I guess being responsible, productive citizens was a large part of it as well. And casually listening I guess it sounded okay.
But for some reason it has stuck in my head, we are made to work, and I can't let it go. Are we made to work? Really? The more I thought about this the less sense it made to me. I guess God raises certain people up for what the moment calls for, like Churchill in WWII, Ghandi in India, and others... But is this what we were really intended/made for?
So I go back to the creation story. I play back the creation of man/adam and woman/eve and the garden scene and walking together, and I just can't see where one would gather that "we were made to work". It seems too me that we were made for relationship. God created us. God cherishes time with us. Just because we screwed it up doesn't change the intent of why we were created. I didn't create my kids because I wanted them to work, or get a profession, or whatever. They are created to be in relationship with their Father/Parent. Yes, they will work, but thats not why we are here.
I don't really know why this is bothering me so much. Maybe its because I am understanding that this, this life we live, is not what God intended at all. We are tied to systems and cultures that expect this or that and we dutifully comply with in order to survive the nightmare we created. And it didn't have to be this way. It could have been so much more. It could have been what God intended for it to be. And that makes me sad.
But man has created these systems for himself. To accomplish things himself. To put himself in a system where he can measure his worth. Where he can measure others worth. And sometimes we just don't measure up.
I wonder what God thinks of all this? And the older I get the less I think of it. God is working something within me all the time, its just hard to hear what it is. I get the impression, however, that he is trying to instill in me another way to view work. Possibly as a calling. To shed the old definition of work as a means to survive, or whoring out for a paycheck as I like to say. And work toward being a positive influence or helping others, not just to make money. But that goes against our system we have created doesn't it.
Created for work? I think not. Do a good work? maybe so if its relational centered. I'll have to give this some more thought.