That lovely word, Work!
Back for Part 2 of Tackling Something New – Kindergarten Again! In Part 1 we introduced what’s involved in tackling something new and how it can feel like starting kindergarten again. And we covered the first and perhaps hardest area we face. HOW DO I KNOW IT’S GOD’S WILL?
Today we’re talking about Work, specifically “AM I WILLING TO FACE THE HARD WORK?”
Right now I’m sitting at the Kountry Kettle with my mostly finished breakfast plate and cup of hot coffee. My laptop is in place and I’m writing this blog post. Love this place. A waitress taking pics of a mother and daughter who is celebrating her 4th birthday. A man leaving who says, “See you tomorrow.”
Now I know this hardly sounds like work! Sitting in a hometown restaurant sipping coffee. Sometimes our task is grinding, sometimes it’s just plain down fun! Today it’s fun.
What are some “work” issues?
The Timing Isn’t Right Yet
First, if you have an interest in something but just can’t bring yourself to tackle the job, one of the following time-related issues may be involved:
- You’re not ready yet
- Others aren’t ready yet
- The time isn’t right yet
A desire (from God) can take a long time to germinate. When you’re ready, when necessary people are ready and when the timing is right, the work – though hard – will not be an issue.
You’re not ready yet
Why does it take so long for some of us to mature? Some of us seem to have victory coming out of the gate and others barely win our victories in the last second. Perhaps for some of us, this has to do with our genetics, environment or temperament. Clearly sin and poor decisions play a big part if we’re honest with ourselves.
But if we let Him, God will make us ready! Even with our failures, foibles and fleshly decisions. He has a plan.
Jacob of the Biblical account in Genesis is a prime example of someone who went through a process of being made ready. According to Wikipedia, “The name [Jacob] comes either from the Hebrew root עקב ʿqb meaning ‘to follow, to be behind’ but also ‘to supplant, circumvent, assail, overreach’, or from the word for ‘heel’, עֲקֵב ʿaqeb.”
Jacob did a lot of conniving and deceiving in his lifetime. But God made him ready! God’s plan was accomplished! It’s beautiful to watch Jacob’s life unfold in the scriptures.
God will make us ready, too. We can’t let our personality; our lack of talent or resources or support; our personality or constitution; our environment; or our previous failures keep us from God’s best.
Let Him make you ready! And me!
Others aren’t ready yet
We don’t live alone on an island. A lot of details may need to be woven together before our “new thing” becomes a reality, and people may need to come into alignment with God’s plan. We need to stop and think about how long it takes for us to come into alignment with God’s plan. Others need to come into alignment as well.
This can sound disheartening. What if they don’t come into alignment? Will that affect what happens to me?
Also, it’s not just about people coming into alignment. It’s about events and circumstances coming to pass at the right time as well.
This is a vast web, something we are unable to weave. The good news is that God is well able to bring to pass in His way, in His time, in His place, what He wants.
God can make all things work together for good. He can make us ready and others ready. And He will bring the right time as we’ll see next.
The time isn’t right yet
I have questioned myself concerning things I’ve started but never finished in my past. I’ve wondered if I’m lazy or undisciplined. Or guilty of some other character flaw. Perhaps so. For sure, I wasn’t ready yet as covered in our earlier point.
Along with “me” not being ready yet, I wonder if the “time” wasn’t right yet in some of those unfinished projects. Those starts may have been training exercises, short forays into obtaining what God had planned for me, preludes into what was to come at the right time.
The right time is key.
In Jacob’s saga, it was now time for a wife. Well, it was time, but with strings attached. So, in a way, it wasn’t time. But it was time. What a messy account in the Bible!
Jacob was enthralled with Rachel and wanted to marry her. The arrangement with Laban was that Jacob would have to work 7 years to get her.
Genesis 29:20 (NIV) says, “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” The time for a wife had come, and the work required was not an issue to Jacob. He had a goal that far outweighed the work involved to get there.
We will gladly work hard for what is important to us. But it needs to be the right time on God’s personal calendar for us, or we won’t be able to bring ourselves to tackle the job.
So, we have to be ready, others have to be ready, and the time has to be right. Then, hard or easy, grinding or fun, grueling or pleasantly sipping coffee at a homey restaurant, the work will not be an issue.
Every Job Has Elements We Don’t Enjoy
In addition to the timing factor, it’s just a fact that every job, ministry or project we tackle will have elements we won’t enjoy. Even when something is God’s will, even when the time is right, even when it’s something dear to our hearts, our work will have its tedious, frustrating or unfulfilling moments.
Tedious: too long, slow, or dull; tiresome or monotonous.
Frustrating: causing annoyance or upset because of an inability to change or achieve something.
Unfulfilling: making someone dissatisfied or unhappy through not allowing their character or abilities to develop fully.
-from Oxford Languages, Google.
Tedious
A worker must sharpen their tools, a necessary but tedious part of a satisfying finished product. Parents change endless diapers in the early stage of their child’s life. These are examples of the process of developing something of value. And I’m all about enjoying the process. That’s huge.
But with all the optimism of the “enjoy the process” motivational speeches, it’s a hard fact that we don’t always feel energetic about the tedious part of the process of developing something. And that’s okay.
Just do it anyway!
Accept the “everydayness” of life as a good thing – the cycles and rhythms, even the monotonous ones. Our minds, emotions and bodies could not handle constant advancement anyway. Enjoy the rest that the tedious parts of our work require.
Frustrating
A simple definition of frustration is not getting what we want. Our plans are frustrated.
It may be for a time, like my trying to figure out a technical issue with my website. It is incredibly frustrating to be slowed down from doing what I like best, but I must deal with it if I wish to have a satisfying result.
What if we hit a blockade without a remedy? Ask for help. I am a born-again Christian, so I ask the Lord for help. I may also have to ask someone else for help. This can be hard. You may be a DIYer like me (do it yourself). But we need to learn to drop our stubbornness and ask for help sometimes.
Unfulfilling
I love that definition above: making someone dissatisfied or unhappy through not allowing their character or abilities to develop fully.
We all have times of unfulfilling work. We sacrifice to get to where we want to go in life. That often includes working jobs that are not what we really want but that help us get there. Maybe a job that helps us pay down debt or helps us get through college. Or that just pays the bills while we listen for God’s leading.
However, if all of life is unfulfilling, then I believe we are missing our assignment.
I firmly believe we each have a God-given assignment or series of assignments in life. That’s part of the reason I developed this website.
I’m not going to spend much time on this point, only to say that if our work/project/ministry is overall fulfilling and there are just some parts of it that are not fulfilling, don’t worry. That’s normal.
Don’t expect utopia!
However, if you have a gnawing unfulfillment that permeates your life, see if God may be speaking to you about a shift.
If the the various elements of your work become overwhelmingly unenjoyable, this may mean something is brewing. Maybe the Lord wants you to tackle something new!
Sometimes We Don’t See Our Work Clearly
Another aspect is that after we have worked hard and are quite pleased with our efforts, especially after very hard work, it’s easy to get a feeling that our work really isn’t that good after all. We’re just not seeing our work clearly at the moment. We don’t “feel” it.
And when I say feel, I mean exactly that. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, we can take a dive – kind of a tired lethargy – probably due to the intense physical, mental, emotional or spiritual output. I’m not a medical or mental professional. This is just my experience.
In that state, the project seems blah. It just doesn’t seem as good as all the work we put into it. It may really be good, but at the moment we can’t see or feel it.
Let me give an example. It’s been a custom for pastors to take Mondays off. (Maybe not so much in today’s world, but in the past.) Why? They give out so much on Sunday that on Monday they are tired and are easy prey for the devil who tells them they failed the day before.
So we see here that both physiologically and spiritually we might not see clearly following a major effort or output in our work, project or ministry.
It’s time to take a break. Watch and see if a day or two later, the energy, enthusiasm and confidence in our efforts returns!
As a bonus, following the break, we may come back with new insight into how to correct a flaw or make our project better than ever.
Don’t let a tired physiological or spiritual state (and they are inter-twined!) stop you from producing fine work!
Sometimes God Makes Us Do What We Wouldn’t Ordinarily Want To Do
Besides timing, unenjoyable elements and not seeing our work clearly, God sometimes makes us do what we wouldn’t ordinarily want to do.
Moses didn’t want to lead and even gave substantial reasons why he shouldn’t. But God put him in a position that forced him to go beyond his inclinations.
I apologize for using myself as an example again, but this fits my point. I am a quiet person. A homebody. I could be a recluse if God didn’t call me into ministry with my husband. So the very thing I don’t feel I’m good at is what God put me into a position to do.
You don’t know how many times I would rather stay home, but I keep an appointment on the calendar anyway.
Because I’m expected to!
And I’m blessed for being there, and hopefully I bless others for being there. Responsibility and opportunity both push me – in a good way – to do what God wants me to do.
I am what’s been called a “reluctant leader.” You may be, too.
Perhaps you are being led into something that you are not ordinarily inclined to do. But that calling is persistent.
Please listen to God and see what He might do. God may be pulling out of you latent gifts He purposed for you from before you were born. Buried gifts, buried treasures. And putting you in a position to use those gifts now.
I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 NLT
You will find that God indeed knows what He’s doing with you!
Let's Wrap This Up
Sometimes our task is grinding, sometimes it’s just plain down fun.
Some work issues we may face are:
- The Timing Isn’t Right Yet
- Every Job Has Elements We Don’t Enjoy
- Sometimes We Don’t See Our Work Clearly
- Sometimes God Makes Us Do What We Wouldn’t Ordinarily Want To Do
But work is incredibly rewarding. God instituted work (caring for the garden) even before the Fall of mankind. It’s His plan. Plow through the hard parts. Finish your assignment!
If you are starting something new or feeling like God may be calling you to something new, let Him lead you into your DESTINY.
Check back for Part 3 of Tackling Something New – Kindergarten Again, where we will talk about the Fear of Failure and Rejection. And Part 4 where we’ll talk about Success.
And if you missed it, check Part 1 where we introduced what’s involved in tackling something new and how we wonder if this desire is from God.
See you soon!
