Effort

Sometimes I can get in my head about if I’m truly doing enough. Or sometimes I’ll wonder if I’m doing too much. The truth of the matter is, there is probably never too much that you can do in God. He gives you the capacity to do just enough. Whatever that “enough” is, is exactly what pleases Him. Granted, He didn’t call us to be lazy servants- “not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord”(Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭11‬).

With the Holy Spirit, we can do all things through Him, which is the effort that we put out. As long as we are abiding in Jesus, the effort will always be there. Even in the times where we don’t feel it the most, there is still that nudge of needing to pray, read, fast, encourage - this is the will of God that causes you to do right. With the activation of the Spirit we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us.

Steward what you have in front of you. You don’t have to strive so hard to please God. He will help you with what He has already gave you. Stop thinking you have to take matters into your own hands. Always remember that God is always with you. Effort isn’t about how much you do, but it’s about how much you’re willing to give up in order to do what it takes.

When effort is seen by God, He gives more of what you need than what you want. However, we have to be careful not to get so caught up by not seeing our “wants” and realize how much of our “needs” He has provided. He does grant us the desires of our heart, however He never says when He will do that. Also don’t you know, by Him providing our needs could possibly get us to our wants? The spiritual blessings can lead right to the natural blessings. God can bless me spiritually with knowledge and wisdom so that I can steward better or prepare better for the natural goal I am trying to achieve. If I get the natural but don’t know how to properly obtain or take care of it, then all the work was done in vain. The situation you could be in now can be teaching you lessons for the next situation. Even in a waiting season, patience is being strengthened. You never know when you might need to exercise patience again, so therefore this waiting season will introduce you the tools you need to endure. Through your effort in the natural can cause movement in the spiritual. We don’t know what exactly God is doing in the spirit realm but we know that He is moving! “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God”(Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭27‬).

The more effort I put in to seek God, the more I can help the next person. By learning His will, attributes, character, goodness, mercy (the list can go on and on), I can help better encourage someone. How can I teach someone about God if I don’t know Him for myself? That’s like the blind leading the blind. However if we are truly determined to be close to the Father, then He will acknowledge that. So many people can be persuaded or strengthened by your walk. Your walk requires effort from your own doings. We can’t say we love God however never form a relationship with Him. What’s the point of throwing the word love around if you never show it? Love requires action as well as belief. Anyone can say they love God, but still live a life opposite of that. By all means, no one is perfect but our actions are dictated by our own choices. There is always things we can do better in, where there it’s less or more.

So I ask you to simply think, how do you show that you love God? What effort are you putting forth?

Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

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