Hard Work

Hard work!

Ruth 2:7”She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.' So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”

Friend, may be you are poised, smart, educated, technically qualified, charming and attractive; yet, one needs more than these en route to achieve success! Are you listening? You need grit and perseverance, you need commitment and confidence, you need diligence and determination, you need the nerve and energy, and most of all you need HIS GRACE to make through the tough terrains in this world!

Life would not always be hunky-dory, we got to roll up our sleeves and be ready to dirty our fingers! Are you there? No place for complacency, if you are aiming for success! Hard work! Did you hear me? Hard work! Proverbs 14: 23” In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.”

I love the book of Ruth with just four chapters; yet, it speaks volumes to us, a lonely widow with grit and determination makes it in her life. Glory to God! She lost her husband, her father-in-law, left her home town, left her folks at home, had nothing of her own; yet, she had not lost the zeal for life, though. Glory to God! I am speaking to someone out there! Despite her grief and sorrow, despite her pain and agony, she kept moving forward! Ruth did not take a break to mourn, she kept moving, are you listening to me? If you had been through some tough times last year, stop brooding and sulking over it, move on. Ruth stepped into a new country with new people and kept moving on, she worked hard from early morning until the break of the day except for a short rest. Lazy, sloppy people don’t get to see the blessings of hard work! Speaking, planning and dreaming doesn’t get you to taste victory, you got to be ready for hard work. Proverbs 12:24”The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.”

Before we could start our Abide School, I had to go through an excruciating period of ‘nothingness’ in our ministry when we relocated our ministry and family to a new city with new language and new culture. I started learning to read and write telugu just to fill the empty space in my life. I volunteered to teach English for under-privileged kids in NGO and local poor kids which was an eye opener for me of the true condition of education. We then visited many orphanages and Children Homes. I volunteered to take care of three kids from my home which gave me huge lessons about this field, eventually the mother came and grabbed the kids away from me. Nothing comes easy friend, we got to some hard work. Even after we opened the school and offered free education, food, medical aid and lots of other freebies; yet, I had to wait many months to see some faces. Hard work! The children came, now I had tough time hunting for teachers and other workers; the greatest lesson I quickly learned that I carry with me to this day, there is no place for lethargy when there is much to achieve yet. Are you listening?

Proverbs 12:11” Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.”