Hard Work

I know, who am I to talk about hard work? I spend most of my time “working” behind a desk or in conversation with people. What is so hard about that? Well, it is true that I don’t get much dirt under my fingernails and my muscles aren’t usually sore at the end of the day, but it is hard in different ways, just normally not physically exhausting.

There is a part of me that loves hard manual labor. I am not saying I’m good at it or that making a living doing it would be easy for me, but I have experienced the satisfaction of a day of hard, physical work. I can see what I’ve accomplished. I can “feel” that I’ve worked that day. I see the dirt under the fingernails, the sweat on the brow, and the tired muscles.

It is hard work to follow Jesus Christ. There is no way to get around this truth. It is hard.

Following Jesus will involve rolling up our sleeves, getting dirt under our fingernails, and experiencing the soreness of overused muscles. We’ll get tired. We’ll need rest. We’ll get frustrated and discouraged. We’ll have days we won’t want to work at all, but we’ll do it. Our minds and bodies will be stretched and taxed. But the work won’t get done unless we do it. (I’m not saying we thwart God’s will and purposes, but we definitely hinder what He wants to see happen IN us.)

It will not come easy. Granted, we’ve all probably experienced times where following Jesus seemed easy. Whether on a mission trip or Emmaus walk or another life-changing experience, we’ve had moments, “spiritual highs,” where it seemed there was nothing better to do than to follow Jesus. We experienced in those times the joy and peace promised by Jesus. It was undeniable and it even seemed easy to follow Jesus.

This is good. These times in our lives are truly gifts. But if we expect following Jesus to be like this all the time – to be almost easy – we’ve been deceived. And if we live in pursuit of these “experiences” and expect our journey with Jesus to be like living constantly in the midst of the “experience,” we will be disappointed. Following Jesus is pursuing a relationship not hopping from one spiritual event to another. It is learning to live in relationship with God Himself.

It’s like being a parent. It is hard work. Taking nothing away from the love I have for John and the blessing it is to have him in my life, it is hard work. His needs are constant. His desire for attention is greater than my desire to give it. He wants to do a lot of things I don’t want to do. It involves sacrifice, patience, effort, perseverance, discipline, etc. I can’t just set John aside and take a break from my role as Dad. Yes, there is a need for respite, for babysitters, for time with just Alisa, but it does not end the ongoing calling to be his Dad. I am always that.

Yesterday, I was tired. I didn’t want to play trains. Mouse Trap was not the plans I had for my life. I wanted a break from the demands for attention. But there’s John, excited his dad is home. So, even though I didn’t want to, I got down on the floor, set aside my agenda (selfish one at that), and played Mouse Trap, then Uno, then whatever game John wanted to do, because what matters to him isn’t so much the activity, but the person whom he is with. He definitely has his plans of what he wants to do, but what’s most important to him is whom he is playing with.

Hard work. Following Jesus. Carrying our cross. Serving others. Letting go. Washing feet. Turning off the TV. Praying. Being still. Meeting needs. Giving away.

Hard work. Following Jesus. Now. Tomorrow. Every situation. Every relationship. When we’re tired. When we don’t want to. When we don’t feel like it. At home. At work. With people we don’t like. With people different from us.

Plain and simple, it is just hard work following Jesus. But it is work worth every ounce of effort and every drop of sweat.