Last night, while combing my oldest daughter Kyla's hair before bed, she and I began chatting randomly as we often do. I like to hear what she's thinking about, what her dreams are... all that good stuff. Well, at ten years old, Kyla is already certain that her main aspiration is to be a fiction writer. So, shortly after we began our basic discussion about trivial things, the conversation moved from being general to being very specifically focused on one thing: Book publishing.
Kyla wanted to know everything, from the pros and cons of self publishing, to what it takes to successfully pitch publishers. She asked about writing techniques, how she could improve her ability to create themes in her stories, how to sell her books and all sorts of things. It was a very intriguing conversation coming from a ten year old.
But Kyla has always been inquisitive. So, she turned to me and asked, "Mom, do all authors like to promote their books?"
"No honey," I responded. "They don't."
"Well, what happens if they don't promote their book then?" she asked.
"If they don't tell anyone their book exists, they don't sell any copies," I explained. "That's why it's important for them to promote the book, even if they don't want to." I could see her frowning and pondering what I said.
"Mommy..."
"Yes?" I answered while braiding her hair.
"Is book promoting hard work?"
"Yep, sure is," I said. "But a little hard work never killed anyone." I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. I guess her curiosity was satisfied, since she didn't ask me anything else after that.
Now, I shared that conversation because it contains a very important lesson I think we each can draw from, which is, we won't always feel like doing the things we must do in order to fulfill destiny in our lives. You may not be an author, but there's something you've been tasked with doing, that requires you to put in work that you don't necessarily enjoy.
You see, even though God bestows blessings upon us, there's still work involved on our parts. Though God is able to do anything, He won't always "rain down manna from heaven." (Exodus 16:14-15) Rather, there will be seasons when He chooses to use our hands to plant the seeds, nurture them and then, reap a harvest from the seeds we have sown once the fullness of time has come.
But if we are unwilling to put in the work, we will find that we are unable to reap a harvest. This applies to every area of our lives: Relationships, ministry goals, business and career aspirations, our spiritual walk with the Lord... it all requires that we exercise discipline, diligence, and determination. There's no way around it. Do you remember in the book of Nehemiah when the Israelites were working to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem? It didn't get done by osmosis or a supernatural turn of events, did it? No, it was good old fashioned hard work. Even the Bible confirms this in Nehemiah 4:16. It says, "So built we the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work." (NKJV)
I cannot stress enough that, work is the key. That means lots of sacrifice and perseverance; that is, if we want to live our lives in accordance with the will of the Father and experience the abundant life He came to give us.
Will it be smooth sailing always? Absolutely not.
But, if we don't learn how to take the bad with the good; the bitter with the sweet; the hard with the easy; and the rocky with the smooth, we can't fulfill our destiny. It's impossible. After all, we can't wear a crown if we're not willing to bear a cross first.
Jesus knew this well. But, what if He had said "I quit" when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane? (Matthew 26:36-45) What if He had told His Father, I don't want to go through all of that pain? What if He decided that He didn't want to sacrifice Himself, because it would be too unpleasant?
We would all be lost, wouldn't we?
Listen; everyday won't be easy and sometimes, we'll feel weary from the uphill climb. Yet and still, we can't give up. We have to keep pressing forward.
We have to do it. We might have to cry sometimes, but after we get finished crying, we've gotta keep on moving forward, knowing full well that there will be peaks and valleys. In light of this truth, aren't you thankful that, when we go through the valley, God is right there with us? He'll walk with us right through our wilderness and never once leave us alone.
That's a good reason to praise Him right there.
Again, it might be hard some days. But that's alright. Know that the Lord is on your side. Just be encouraged my friend and do what the Word of God says: "Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3 KJV).
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may you be empowered to prosper!
Dianna Hobbs
