Putting in the Work.
I spent this past weekend working at my deer lease, trying to get it ready for the upcoming hunting season. I had a couple family members who were kind enough to help mow the lanes and get the food plots planted. It was hot, dusty, hard, but necessary work.
I do that every year so hopefully we can have some opportunities to at least see some deer while we go hunting. I enjoy sitting quietly in the woods observing nature. Putting the work in during the hottest part of the year down here in Louisiana makes the experience in the fall so much better. That principle applies to most areas of out lives. Our job, businesses, marriages, relationships, hobbies, skills, etc. all depend on us putting in the effort to make ourselves better and ready to achieve success in that area.
There are a lot of times in life where we need to put in the work for things to work out their best. Learning new skills, saving money, doing prep work, studying, etc. Those are all different ways we need to lay the foundation for our future success.
Sometimes it’s the mental work that we need more than anything. Getting rid of bad habits, addictions, or hang ups are what is needed to propel us into the future. It could even be dealing with anger or grief to get to a place where you can think clearly and not base your actions off emotions. Emotions change so easily we cannot base our lives off only emotions if we want to have any stability in our lives.
Our society has become dependent on handouts; most people have a sense of entitlement that everything should be handed to them without putting in the hard work. We also live in a world where everything happens so fast, information is available instantly, so we expect big things to happen quickly in “our time”.
Biblically big things don’t happen fast. For instance, Noah took roughly 75 years to build the ark (while being mocked the whole time). Joseph was imprisoned and put into slavery for roughly 13 years before he was put as second in command in Egypt. The big biblical events normally occur over many years, not the few weeks or months we typically hope for. We as people give up so easily when success isn’t quick enough.
Hebrews 12: 1-4 NLT
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
This week I encourage you to find that one thing you have been putting off. The thing that is holding you back from you next big thing. No matter what it is, it starts with putting in the work to make it happen. I will be doing the same.