“Sometimes the only ‘work’ required is trusting God to do the work.” Unknown

Daily I question my book topic, chapter titles, and whether or not any of this matters enough to write. Before I headed upstairs last night to write this blog post, I opened an old book that I read in 2008 written by John and Stasi Eldredge, Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul.  

On page 7, they talked about the heart of a woman and how we seem to think the desires of our hearts are saved for those “who get their acts together.” They said, “The message to the rest of us – whether from a driven culture or a driven church – is try harder.”

On the page I randomly opened to, try harder was italicized and I had drawn a box around it for emphasis. God planted the seed for this book at least 13 years ago.

In her article “Let God Do the Work,” Reverend Elizabeth Rowley said we do our parts, then we let God do the work. She talked about succeeding after many failures at water skiing. Her friends’ instructions helped, “They said my job was to stay in position, be ready, and the boat would pull me up. I was to let the boat do the work.”

She transferred her skiing lesson to life, “Spiritually speaking, we are co-creating with the Divine, and our job is to get into position, stay in place, and let God do the work. You don’t have to make it happen; you do need to make it welcome. You make it welcome by getting into position.”

Getting in position (my hard work) means I get down on my knees and pray, then I sit down at my laptop and write – no matter whether I feel untalented, unmotivated, or uninspired.

Getting in position (my hard work) means I write no matter how much I question what I’m writing.

Getting in position (my hard work) means I give up on trying hard and give into God. 

I’m guessing that when I’m trying hard, I’m giving into the devil. When I’m working hard, I’m getting in position and giving up my work to God. 

What in your life needs to become less about trying hard and more about the hard work of trusting? I’m finding out the two are very different.

In This Together, 
Kim

FYI: I’m blogging my book titled On The Other Side of Trying Hard: Healing, Happiness, and Holiness. Because these blog posts are a manuscript instead of stand-alone stories, some posts may leave you hanging. I hope you’ll hang in here with us anyway ‘cause a happy ending is coming. My blog post title includes the chapter title first. The phrase in parentheses is the subheading. I’m over-the-top grateful to have you here. I’d love to hear your reflections, questions, and comments.