It is essential to plan, and many spend a good deal of time contemplating their next move. According to Luke 14:28-30, we are to count the cost before we begin any project.
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ (Luke 14:28-30)
Although we are to count the cost to determine if we have what it takes to finish our assignment, we must begin. It is important not to get bogged down and never achieve forward momentum. Jesus worked until He finished His mission on earth. We are to keep stepping forward.
Nothing in the universe operates without work. You must work to fail. Failure requires that you get up each day and choose not to fulfill your purpose. If we do not cooperate with Holy Spirit and the principles needed to achieve our goal, we have resolved ourselves to failure. Cooperation with Holy Spirit requires a work ethic.
Work is a principle of the universe. Each day the sun must work to release energy. If it stops working, we will die because we become devoid of its life releasing forces. A caterpillar must work to become a butterfly, and a woman must work to give birth. Even a small child must work to walk.
Even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-15 ESV
If you want the blessings of God, you must work for them. It is easy to slump into a position of lethargy while in transition. We may not live in our dream house. Our financial situations may not be what we want it to be. Our current position may not be pleasant. However, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going (Ecclesiastes 9:10). God will lead you into your next step, but you must keep stepping and moving forward.
God rewards diligence. No matter the circumstances, it is crucial that we do our tasks as if God himself were watching us. According to Colossians 3:23, whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men. Scripture teaches us that a man that is diligent in his business with come before kings. According to Proverbs 22:29, it says “seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” Do not be intimidated by what you see in the world. God is not intimidated by the world, and His word remains steadfast.
God created us for a purpose. We are his handiwork. Ephesian 2:10 For we are His workmanship [His own masterwork, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set] so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]. We are his trophies, and he leads us triumphantly as he shows us off to the universe (2 Corinthians 2:14), which reads, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”
If triumph is to become our portion, we must be doers of God’s word and not just listeners or talkers. According to James 1:22
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
We can be good churchgoers and never fulfill our purpose. We are ambassadors for God’s kingdom. Everything we do should be about building the kingdom of God on earth. The work God calls us should impact our sphere of influence. What is your sphere of influence? What is your assignment? We can be busybodies and not recognize it. Are you living purposefully? According to Jeremiah 29:11, God has a plan for your life.
For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call on Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice], and I will listen to you. Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
Ask him for strategy as you impact your sphere of influence as you keep stepping forward.