by Jared Humphers
Have you ever felt like you didn’t know what to do?
Like, if you plan and work on something, you feel like you’re not trusting God?
Or maybe it’s the opposite: you’ve been trusting God, but feel like you’re being lazy because you’re not doing anything or planning?
How do we find a balance … if there even is one?
I think one solution— the same as a lot of others— is simple: Change your mindset.
There’s an old story about two farmers who needed it to rain.
There had been a drought, and if no rain came soon, they would probably die from starvation.
Both of these farmers prayed for God to give them rain.
However, only one of them went out, tilled the soil, and planted their seeds.
When the rain did come, only one had something to harvest.
“He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground…” (Isaiah 30:23, NIV)
Similarly, we need to have an attitude of preparing ourselves for God to bless our work.
Overworking ourselves leads to exhaustion and doesn’t give God room to work, but not working to improve ourselves also means that there’s nothing for God to bless when it’s the right time.
It’s a delicate balance, but a general rule of thumb is to focus on the things that we can control, in other words, don’t wait to prepare yourself.
God ultimately controls the outcome . However, we can control our output – the amount of time we spend studying, working, preparing, and growing.
There are times where you’ll work very hard and not get the result you expected, and the opposite will be true. However, an average commitment almost always leads to average results.
Keep studying,
Keep singing,
Keep praying,
Keep building good habits,
and just be patient, choosing to stay focused on doing the right things at the right times.
Once you’ve done all you can do, give it to God and trust He’ll do the right thing (spoiler: He always does!)
Moral of the story? Trust God … and start planting.
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Galatians 6:9, NASB)
