Faith + Hard Work
HAVE YOU EVER WORKED SUPER HARD FOR SOMETHING AND YOU DIDN’T GET IT? YOU STUDIED FOR DAYS BUT THE TEST GRADE WASN’T WHAT YOU WANTED… THE JOB OR INTERNSHIP DIDN’T PICK YOU… YOU WEREN’T ACCEPTED OR CHOSEN…
THESE MOMENTS ARE HARD… ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU “KNOW” YOU’VE PUT IN SO MUCH HARD WORK…
I’VE HAD MY SHARE OF THESE MOMENTS AND I WANT TO SHARE A LITTLE THEORY I CAME UP WITH… IT’S ALL ABOUT THE INTERSECTION OF WHERE WORKING HARD MEETS UP WITH GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE… WHERE YOU HAVE TO LET GO OF CONTROL AND KNOW IT IS OUT OF YOUR HANDS… AND WHERE YOU NEED TO KEEP WORKING HARDER TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS AND DREAMS…
SO HERE IS YOU… YOU ARE WORKING TOWARDS SOMETHING… YOU’RE TAKING LEAPS OF FAITH AND PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE… APPLYING TO ALL SORTS OF JOBS AND PROGRAMS… STUDYING DAYS IN ADVANCE FOR THIS TEST… GETTING YOUR RESUME AND COVER LETTER CRITIQUED NOT ONE BUT THREE TIMES… YOU’RE TRAINING FOR THE RACE OR GAME… OR MAYBE YOU ARE JUST AN ALL-STAR BOYFRIEND OR GIRLFRIEND WORKING HARD TO BEING WHO JESUS WANTS YOU TO BE FOR THAT RELATIONSHIP…
THEN YOU HAVE ANOTHER FORCE… COMING FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION… LIKE IT’S GOING TO CRASH INTO YOU… BUT DON’T WORRY! BECAUSE THIS FORCE IS GOD AND HE LOVES YOU AND SAYS “I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU… PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE…”
HOW AMAZING IS THAT?! YOU HAVE AN INCREDIBLE GOD WORKING FOR YOU….
SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE IS WHERE YOUR HARD WORK AND GOD’S WILL FOR YOU LIFE MEET UP… THIS IS WHERE DECISIONS ARE MADE…
I’M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT WHETHER THOSE DECISIONS ARE YES OR NO… THIS IS WHERE YOU WANT TO BE…
WHY?
BECAUSE IT SHOWS GOD YOU HAVE WORKED FOR THIS… BUT YOU STILL TRUST HIS PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE AND KNOW THAT IT IS GREATER THAN ANYTHING YOU COULD COME UP WITH… IT SHOWS FAITH… THAT YOU HAD THE FAITH TO PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE AND CHANGE COURSE OF YOUR CAREER OR TRAIN HARDER THAN EVER BEFORE… DOING BIG THINGS SHOWS THAT YOU BELIEVE IN A GOD THAT DOES BIG THINGS
“Doing big things shows that you believe in a God that does big things.”
NOW WHAT I BELIEVE IS THAT YOU MAY NOT GET WHAT YOU EXPECTED OR WANTED “EXACTLY”... BUT BECAUSE YOU PUT IN THAT INITIAL WORK IT WILL ALL WORK OUT…
I WANT TO SHARE A LITTLE STORY ABOUT MYSELF TO ILLUSTRATE THIS…
I DID NOT GET INTO MY DREAM COLLEGE… BUT IN RETROSPECT I NOW SEE WHY THE UNIVERSITY I AM AT IS SENDING ME PLACES AND PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES I NEVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED… I DIDN’T GET INTO MY DREAM COLLEGE BUT THAT IS WHERE I SET MY SIGHTS… AND THE SCHOOL I AM AT NOW OFFERED ME A GREAT SCHOLARSHIP SO THAT I COULD ATTEND A PRIVATE INSTITUTION AFFORDABLY… THIS WAS MY HARD WORK AND GOD’S WILL… HE SAW IN THE FUTURE THAT THE SMALLER SCHOOL AND CONNECTIONS I WOULD MAKE WOULD LEAD ME TO GETTING THE INTERNSHIP I JUST GOT…
SOMETIMES REJECTION IS ACTUALLY GOD’S PROTECTION…
I WAS REJECTED FROM THE FIRST INTERNSHIP I APPLIED TO IN MY HOMETOWN… BUT IT INSPIRED ME TO KEEP WORKING HARD…
“Sometimes God’s rejection is actually your protection.”
NOW I WILL BE IN NOT OKLAHOMA BUT NEW YORK CITY INTERNING IN 2019…
HARD WORK + GOD’S WILL… HE MAY NOT OPEN THE DOORS WE WANTED OR EXPECTED… BUT WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO PUT OURSELVES OUT THERE… TAKE LEAPS OF FAITH AND WORK HARD… BECAUSE HE IS MEETING US IN THE MIDDLE IF WE TRUST HIM…
I ALWAYS LOVED IN WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS WHEN KRIS KRISTOPHERSON SAYS “IF YOU WANT GOD’S HELP YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO MEET HIM HALFWAY”
AS A KID I DID NOT UNDERSTAND THIS… I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A SAD SAD MOVIE…
AS I’VE GOTTEN OLDER I SEE IT NOW… THIS IS HALFWAY… IS WHERE WE TRUST IN HIS PLAN AND MEET HIM THERE WITH ALL OF OUR GIFTS WORK AND TALENTS… I BELIEVE HE DELIGHTS IN MEETING US THERE…
IN MATTHEW 7:7 IT SAYS ASK YOU SHALL RECIEVE KNOCK AND THE DOOR WILL OPEN…
GOD WANTS US TO LEAN ON HIM… IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU CONTROLLING EVERYTHING AND YOUR PATH… BECAUSE IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL BE EVEN MORE DISAPPOINTED WHEN THINGS DON’T WORK OUT… IT’S ABOUT GOING BEFORE THE LORD WITH THE TALENTS AND GIFTS HE HAS GIVEN US AND SAYING: JESUS I AM ASKING FOR YOU TO MEET ME HERE IN THIS MOMENT… I’VE WORKED HARD FOR THIS AND I WANT THIS IS WORK BUT I KNOW YOUR PLAN IS GREATER THAN MINE AND IT IS OUT OF MY CONTROL…
IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO DO THIS… I KNOW THAT… I PRAYED HUGE FOR THIS INTERNSHIP AND I KNOW EVEN IF I HAD NOT GOTTEN IT I STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN UPSET… BUT I ALSO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT “DANG THE NEXT DOOR HE’S ABOUT TO OPEN MUST BE AMAZING” BECAUSE EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON AND YOU “ARE” CHOSEN BY GOD
THIS LETTER CONTAINS LOVE