Do the Work

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*There is going to be some tough love ahead. So, if you are feeling fragile, this is not the post to read. But if you need someone to kick you in the you-know-where so that you can get your act together and do the work, read on.

Overnight Success

My aim was to surf the internet and scroll through social media posts to look for ways to improve the blog. However, instead of feeling inspired and motivated, I felt envious of the success of certain mommy bloggers – but only for a moment. Because, as I scrolled past post after post, I also started feeling tired on their behalf. They were constantly putting themselves and their families out “there” to ensure that they are always seen and heard above the noise of today’s world. They certainly put in a huge amount of work to get to that level of success.

And then it hit me.

There really is no such thing as an overnight success. These successful mommy bloggers had to work hard to get to their level of success. Sure, they may have had a huge leg up when they were picked up some big names and pushed forward but they had to work hard to make sure that their blog and business delivered what it promised after being endorsed by the big names.

And that is a lesson we need to learn.

Do The Work

We need to do the work. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Instead, there is work to be done. And sometimes the work is hard. No matter how we try to work smart, some work is just hard. And we just need to put in the hours.

In 1 Chronicles 28:20, King David tasked his son and successor Solomon to do the work of building God’s Temple. King David himself had already gathered all the necessary materials. But Solomon had to do the work. He said to Solomon,

“Be strong and courageous, and DO THE WORK. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for THE LORD GOD, MY GOD, IS WITH YOU. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.”

1 Chronicles 28:20, NIV, emphasis mine.

And in Haggai, the Lord spoke to the post-exilic leader, priest and people of Israel who had returned to Israel to rebuild their lives and the Temple. Through Haggai, He said,

“Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now GET TO WORK, FOR I AM WITH YOU, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

Haggai 4:2, NIV, emphasis mine.

In both times, the command was the same: God is with them, now get going and do the work.

God’s Original Design

God never intended work to be a punishment. Even before the fall, Adam and Eve were commanded to tend and care for the Garden of Eden.

“The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to care for it and WORK IT.”

Genesis 2:15, NCV, emphasis mine.

Sin and the Curse on Work

So why do most of us loathe to work? The answer is SIN.

When Adam disobeyed God and sin entered the world, the consequence of that act was not just being cast out of the Garden of Eden and being separated from God, but that work will now be hard. God told Adam,

“So I will put a curse on the ground, and you will have to WORK VERY HARD for your food.”

Genesis 3:18, NCV, emphasis mine.

But praise be to God that Jesus came and delivered us from this curse. But He delivered us from the curse of work being hard, not of work itself.

Work is Good

We still need to work because work is good for us. Work keeps us away from mischief. Remember the saying, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop? Work is good. And we need to change our attitude towards it.

Get to Work

Oftentimes though, we like to use the “Research” card to procrastinate working. As in, “I need to research the best way to _____ (fill in the blank) before I can actually do it.”

The task can be something simple like how to clean the toilet or something more complicated like teaching Singapore Maths. Research is fine. Research is also necessary. But there comes a point where we just have to put aside our excuses that we are researching and just do the work.

Do the Work

Just before I wrote this post, I was listening to an old podcast episode from Problogger titled, What You Can Learn From the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Course podcast.

Darren said two things that struck me:

“Doing is more important than knowing.”

and

“Take action don’t just gain knowledge”

Instead of constantly researching, we just need to DO THE WORK.

The toilet research excuse? Instead of spending hours on YouTube looking at cleaning toilets, just go clean it. Flylady says “housework done imperfectly still blesses the family”. Let not perfectionism be our excuse.

Same with homeschooling. There is always a better/more interesting/cheaper curriculum or programme out there. But as one homeschool veteran wrote many years ago, the best curriculum is the one we use. Just decide and make it work by doing the work.

Pray AND Work

But what about the working from a position of rest phrase?

It is true.

As Christians, we should be working from a position of rest because Jesus has done it all for us. But resting does not mean doing nothing. Rather, it means praying and doing the work while trusting the outcomes to God. We don’t need to fret or run around like headless chickens.

Pray.

Research.

Seek godly counsel.

But in the end, we still have to DO what we have prayed, read and learnt about. Our house doesn’t magically tidy itself up because we prayed for a clean house and rested in our identity as children of the Most High God.

When God gave the Israelites the Promised Land they still had to fight to possess the land. Even until the time of King David, they were still fighting to take what belongs to them.

One of David’s mighty men, Eleazar, was described as having fought the Philistines “until he was so tired his hand stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory for the Israelites that day.” 2 Samuel 23:10, NCV.

The Lord gave victory but he had to do the work. You may say, “But oh that is so Old Testament!” Then let me point you to Paul.

He did not just sit in his house and wait for God to bring the people to him. He took at least 3 missionary journeys in the Book of Acts to bring the gospel to the people. And according to this article, he actually made many more journeys than 3.

Neither David’s men nor Paul just sat and prayed. They did the work.

Work AND Rest

There is always that tension of working for the Lord and resting in the Lord. Both are necessary. It is not “either work or rest” but “work and rest”.

So friends, what is it you have to do? Let me encourage you to Go Do It!

Brain Dump

But what if you have so much work to do that you don’t know where to start? Start with a Brain Dump.

Read my post, Do the Brain Dump and Getting Out of the Overwhelm Zone and grab the FREE printable that comes in the post to start.

May this bless you and encourage you.

Disclaimer: Just like my post Are You Fulfilling Your Assignment, this post is not about working for our salvation which is entirely by grace. But this has to do with the tasks, our assignments that each of us received from the Lord.

Related Posts

It’s Pure Hard Work
Beat the Overwhelm
Setting Up Routines to Beat the Overwhelm

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