The Hand of the Diligent Will Rule. But the Lazy Man Will Be Put to Forced Labor. Proverbs 12:24
And Whatever You Do, Do It Heartily, As For The Lord and Not to Men, Knowing That From the Lord You Will Receive the Reward of the Inheritance; For You Serve the Lord Christ. Col. 3:23-24
Sometimes when I'm at work and I have a long distance to drive. Sometimes it takes a couple hours or more one way. Chasing white lines doesn't seem like it's all that hard but it can be physically and mentally taxing at times. That's the life a truck driver. I personally haven't tried to drive over the road but from what I have gathered I would probably hate it. I spent nearly 16 years welding and I eventually got burned out building the same things everyday. Even though I admit the burnout happened years before God opened the door for me to move on to my current profession I still gave it my best.
I've always been one to not miss work for anything. Seven out of 16 years at my first job I had perfect attendance. At my current job I've missed a few days due to sick kids and a hospitalization. What brought this to the forefront of my mind was on a long drive back from West Virginia today and old country song that is a blast from the past and a favorite of mine can across my Youtube Music App. It's by a country artist named Doug Supernaw. The song is called not "Not Enough Hours In The Night." My wife probably wouldn't like it because it's "too old" for her liking but she chose to marry this country bumpkin.
What hit me about this song is the husband's desire is to spend more time with wife in contrast to what his job requires of him. As a husband and a dad the hardest job a man can have is balancing work and home. My wife probably thinks I like being at work more than being at home with her and the kids but that's never been the case. I was raised with blue collar parents who worked sick or well and I knew that one day I would have to figure out how much I could physically endure when being under the weather or there was other things I would rather do such as stay home with my Mama Bear. It's hard as a blue collar man who does try to serve the Lord and be the breadwinner. I feel like as the man it's my job to provide and it's the wife's job to help. It's not an issue of who makes the most money but the role of the husband to be the provider and protector and it's the wife's job to help. They aren't meant to do it separately but together as a team. A team of horses can't get very far working against each other. They have to pull that plow together and sometimes you have to lean on the other because one of you gets tired or wore down. Sometimes I'm fortunate that my boss says hey we don't need you in the early morning right away because we need to save you for something else and I get a couple extra hours in the night snuggle with my wonderful bride before work and maybe we can sit on the front porch and I can do my morning devotions while she has her coffee. I love starting my day that way but I know that if the Lord doesn't come before the my retirement day comes my plan is to that everyday together until the Lord calls us home.
I love going to work because it's how God makes it possible for me to provide for my family and the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." Sometimes I want to stay home with my family and it's hard especially when you've had a great time off on vacation or stay-cation. What should drive us all is out of the love The Lord Jesus showed us is to love our families so much that we can and do rush off to work and give it our very best as if we're working for the Lord Himself and hurry home to pour out the love Jesus put in our hearts for our family with our remaining time we have. The same enthusiasm we have for our favorite sports team should be nothing in comparison to our love for our Lord and Savior and our families. All too often it's the other way around. I get it because I love football and wife loves it too because she gets more time with me because I make homemade popcorn and she gets over three hours of uninterrupted snuggles.
So what I'm really trying to say is that get up and go to work and take pride in what you do as if Jesus Himself was standing there watching you and then go home to our families and love on them with them every remaining minute because we don't know how many minutes we have left. If you're reading this God isn't finished with you yet so get to work and then get busy loving on your families because life is too short not to. May God richly bless you.
https://youtu.be/us4D1H5EiZ4?si=VtUCmapbLaShbJ2M
That's the link to the song that inspired this post.
