The Work He Has For Me

When I saw it there in print, I knew it wasn’t just for me.
Most of the time it’s not.

It had been a conversation with a friend on Sunday night.
A friend who wanted to quit the task she knew she’d been called to.
Because it’s hard.
And it’s all uphill some days.

And I get it.

“Oh friend!”  I would say to her.  “I get it more than you know.”

Because some days are difficult.
And when the battle rages, it’s hard to stay the course.
When sand is sinking at each step you trod, it’s nearly impossible to stay standing.

And we may be tempted to think God was mistaken.
That perhaps He got it wrong.
Or that we misinterpreted the signs.

Because we were sure He called us to this work.
We were SURE of it.
But the pain of it, at times, is too much.

But then I read the words in a commentary.
Words I wasn’t even looking for.

“To do our own work is really to do something that has never been attempted before.  For each of us is an original and there is great honor in the success of that which is peculiar to us.”

Umm… yeah.
That.

And in that moment I know the words are for me.
And her.
And you.

Because I know, too, that there’s someone else who’s ready to quit.
Ready to throw in the towel.
Ready to proceed… to pass on the purpose God has.

I see the words in Proverbs 22:3b.  “But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.”
Some versions call them the, “simple.”
And they can be defined as, “those who live with carelessness about their duty, those who live with unbelief, ignorance, impatience, hardness of heart, and contempt for the Word of God.”

And I repeat the words to me, send them to my friend, and promise the Lord to better steward that which He has given to me to do.

I’d fasten my own addendum to the text I’d send my friend… “If we walk away from the work God is calling us to do, then we are leaving behind a work for Him that will never be done.”

Think it through friend.
You have been given an assignment that only YOU can do.
There is NONE OTHER like it!

He is calling you… preparing you… and equipping you AS YOU GO.

The call to Abraham is the same for you and me, “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.’”  (Gen 12:1)

You go… THEN He will show.
But you have to commit to placing one foot in front of the other.
Fulfilling, faithfully, the work designed by a Good Father who knows our ability better than we do .