It’s Pure Hard Work

I have been asked, “So how do you manage?” more times than I care for. In the beginning I would try to share but more often than not, I would see a glazed look coming over their faces if I shared too many details or mentioned the word God or Jesus in the sentence

It recently dawned upon me that while many may be curious about how we live our lives and “manage” it without any outside help, most are really not interested in the details. They just want to know the magic spell I chant to get things done so that they too can get it all done Actually, I think everyone, including me, wants to know the magic spell to chant to get us from here to there in the fastest possible way and with the least possible exertion.

This applies to homeschooling, home organisation and even our spiritual walk.

Homeschooling – the moment we hear of a family who has churned out a successful homeschooler, we want to go and read about them or better still, meet up with them. And ask them the same old questions – what curriculum did they use, did they engage a tutor? Who is the tutor, etc…

Home organisation - we devour books after books, or blogs after blogs in today’s world , about reducing clutter and try to absorb all the how-tos of keeping our house neat and tidy. Or we participate in forums and ask more questions.

Our spiritual walk - we read and ask and discuss to death about hearing from God or knowing God’s will or growing closer to God.

But there is no magic spell.

Successful homeschooling, home organisation and a close walk with God are the result of pure hard work coupled with lots and lots of prayer.

The homeschooling family has put in the requisite amount of hard work to get to where they are. The organised and lovely home is the result of mom putting in the required hard work to either do it herself (when her children are younger) or train her children to be helpers and not just consumers in the family. The person who hears from God and is walking in such closeness to Him has disciplined herself to regularly spend time with Him and to read His Word so that she is intune with Him.

Let’s be blunt here – no amount of talking and reading about something is going to get us there. And…no amount of praying is going to get our work done either! Yes, we should pray, we should do our research and even talk to those who have gone ahead of us. But in the end we still have to DO what we have prayed, read and learnt.

No amount of praying or reading alone is going to get us a neat and tidy house. We’ve got to actually declutter and clean – and regularly too! Our house doesn’t magically tidy tself up coz we prayed for a clean house. And we definitely will not grow closer to God just because we went to a conference to listen to an anointed speaker.

But I guess no one really wants to hear that. And that is probably why conferences on successful living are always well attended. People are always looking out and hoping that the next speaker will give them that magic spell that will allow them to get from where they are to where they want to be – all in an instant, without breaking into a sweat.

But the good news for those who are willing to work hard is this : coupled with prayer, the rewards will come – be it a spiritual or physical issue. For example, if we pray for God’s help to let go of things as we declutter, the clutter will be gone. Our home will be neater and more organised. As for hearing God and knowing His will? He promises in His Word, ”You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

Yes, it is pure hard work but oh! the rewards are so worth it. Don’t give up. Don’t be paralysed with fear at the amount of work to be done. Pray for strength and wisdom on how to handle it and then just DO it!

May this bless you and encourage you.