“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
AS EACH NEW DAY REVEALS TO US WHAT GOD’S WILL IS, WE NEED TO THROW OURSELVES WHOLEHEARTEDLY INTO WHATEVER WORK THE LORD SETS BEFORE US. If we are Christians, then the adage “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” applies to us in a unique way. If we’ve submitted ourselves totally to the Lord, then what our “hand finds to do” will never be anything but what He wills for us to do (Colossians 3:17). Consequently, we can give our best to every single task the Lord puts on our “desk.”
When we commit ourselves unreservedly to the Lord, what we are asking Him to do, in effect, is show us the path He wants us to follow, on the understanding that we will follow wherever He leads and do whatever He wills. But He doesn’t reveal what He wants us to do in advance; He does it one day at a time. So if you’ve prayed for the Lord to open the doors He wants you to go through, then the doors that are open to you today are the ones He wants you to go through! (You did believe that the Lord would answer that prayer, didn’t you?) The work He wants you to do is the work that is right in front of you. Today’s work has been sent by Him, and if you refuse to do it with all your might, then you need to reconsider whether you are actually willing to do the Lord’s will.
And don’t forget: we can consider the difficult things to have been sent by the Lord no less than the easy ones. There is no way around having to deal with some difficulty. But in reality, if it’s the right road we’re on (and the Christian will always make sure that it is), then it doesn’t matter whether it’s an easy road or not. So the advice of Confucius turns out to be especially good advice for Christians: “Wherever you go, go with your whole heart.”
If we have committed ourselves to God and prayed for Him to set our agenda and send our way what He wants us to do, there need be no doubt in our minds that prayer will be answered. Consequently, we can embrace everything that comes our way with a whole new confidence. Believing it is His will, whether easy or hard, we can dive into it and give it all we’ve got. There need be no holding back for those who live within His will.
“Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God” (Jim Elliot).
Gary Henry — WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
