Working Hard

God gave us bodies, brains and opportunity and He expects us to use it! Simple truth: I have never seen a bird that did not leave the nest after it learned to fly. Does God drop mosquitoes into the bird’s nest? Not hardly! He provides bugs for flying birds who GO OUT AND SEEK THEM! (Matthew 6:26)

I will say I do not believe in luck. I believe luck happens when hard work meets opportunity. In order for the Jews to reach the Promised Land, they had to travel, fight wars, and cross a river. On the Back 9, as I have studied successful people I have found they all have common denominators, one being hard work. Some people have more help at their fingertips; some have little help. But they all have dreams, vision and a willingness to fight for their dreams.

I love the story of John Grisham. He has sold millions of books and movies have been made from his books. John was a very busy attorney, but his passion was writing. He always wanted to write a novel. Having a family and being an attorney didn’t allow extra time for his passion of writing books. With his dream, he decided he would just have to “get up a little earlier” and make time to write. He wrote a little bit every day……thus completing his first novel and the rest is history….

John Grisham is one of the best selling authors of our times selling tens of millions of books. He used his passion and dream and, of course, talent to drive him to work hard, be patient, sacrifice sleep in order to accomplish more than he ever dreamed. It didn’t happen “boom” all at once…it happened day by day, hour by hour….diligently….laying one brick at a time….or should I say, in John’s case, a paragraph or two a day!

How about the President of ABC? Not sure if this particular man is still the president, but I just read an article about him. He started in the “mailroom” at ABC, deciding it would be a great starting point for getting to know all areas in the company…..his job description was to deliver mail to everyone in the company. A rare opportunity came up while he was working in the mailroom, a temporary two week job while someone was on vacation. The mailroom guy jumped at the chance. He could still do his job but he would have to work an extra shift from 4:30 to 8:30 a.m. He decided to get there at 3:30 a.m. because he wasn’t sure of all that was involved in the position. He had never worked in that area but knew it was in an area that he would eventually like to be promoted to doing.

His extra time, willingness and desire to do a good job paid off…..at the end of the two weeks he never returned to the mailroom. He stayed at the division where he had taken the temporary vacation fill-in…..and yes, several years later became the President of ABC………He had desire, dreams, and YES….he looked for and took advantage of opportunities….he made personal sacrifices of time and effort….to MOVE and reach HIS dreams and desires……

Is anything resonating here??????? These people had DESIRE, PASSION AND GOD-GIVEN TALENTS AND BRAINS…… and they DID NOT WAIT FOR THINGS TO “POOF” JUST APPEAR……………. They got busy……and WORKED HARD….!!! Scripture is clear, “All hard work brings a profit!”

I use stories like these to continually motivate myself and others as they seek to fulfill their purpose in life. For the last two years I have really encouraged our middle son Thomas in this area…His work ethic in golf……is inspiring to me…….to the point he has a doctor that constantly treats the blisters on his hands, feet and fingers (for a diabetic this can be very serious), as he works hard to fulfill his God-given talent and passion. I encourage him often to remember that God is in charge…..not man….to lean heavily into trusting God and what His Word teaches about…..purpose, talent, obedience and passion.

Let me encourage you today–He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion!

Proverbs 30:24-28, “Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces.”

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