Have You Received the Fruit of Your Labor?

This blog is for those of us that have tried our best to behave ethically and do right throughout our lifetimes and haven't been rewarded. We've served others in business, church and relationships but seem to end up on the short end of the stick. We've tried and tried to do right but what we wanted and expected didn't happen. We've cried out in our alone times, "Were is mine?" Some of us have become disillusioned and discouraged and even quit trying. If this is you, this blog is for you.

Here are a few things I've learned through some of these times. I've worked hard at everything I've undertaken in my life but failed a lot. My failures usually occurred not because I didn't do a good job but because I was doing the wrong job! A dog barking up the wrong tree as the old saying goes. Trying to be like other successful people doing something I thought I was to do often led me to the wrong place, or in some cases no place! Trying to perform and compete to be better than others caused me to be exhausted most of the time and not do my best. I worked hard to please and be accepted by others, which made my sense of failure worse when they didn't appreciate my performance. Driven by my heart motives, I was trying hard to get to the wrong place! I never received the fruit (rewards) of my labors. I failed to accomplished my goals in other words.

Because I was working hard and exhausted most of the time, I had little time to be quiet to hear the still, small voice inside me. Whether or not one believes in God or His creation, we are equipped with an inner sense, some people call it a voice, that is constantly trying to tell us the right thing to do. For those that have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that voice is recognized as the Holy Spirit of God. In any event, our inner sense, intuition or urging will direct us for good if we listen and follow it.

When my last major project failed, I actually gave up trying to do anything. I remember saying to God, "If there is anything left in my life for me to do, you have to open a door and bring it to me." It was only a few months until doors of opportunity that I had tried to push through in years past began to open...wide. I still had to do the work but it was work that was given to me, not something I had to perform to get. Since then there have been some difficult situations develop but as I trust Him to take me to my destiny I keep making progress.

Here is the bottom line. Jeremiah 29:ll says, "For I (God) know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future." Hard for some of us to accept, but the Infinite (God) is greater than the finite (us). When I try to make my own way on my own strength, it's hard. When I cooperate with what God has given me, its easy because He is God and I'm not! Post a comment and share your story.