It Takes Effort On Our Part. 8/16/2023

 Good Morning,

I am running very late today for various reasons. I just sat down to write and next to me is a hot cup of Door County Raspberry Almond Coffee. 

2 Kings 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army, who was healed of leprosy by the prophet Elisha. 

Now that the little bit of history is done with, I can make my point of the day. We often ask God to intervene in our problems. And with just a glance God could make all of our problems disappear. We pray and we plead for results and very often the solutions have us getting involved and putting in some effort.

Naaman had to go to the Jordan river and dip himself in seven times. He had to be obedient to the command given to him. 

I like fresh tomatoes and I like to preserve some for the long winters also. I prayed about having tomatoes. But in order to have some in the garden I had to turn over the soil, plant seeds inside the house in March and then transfer the seedings to the cultivated soil. Due to the drought, we had to water the tomatoes more often this year. We are harvesting many tomatoes now. But I had to put in the effort. The lawn needs to be mowed. God did not send a herd of goats to chew down the grass. He blessed us with a tractor and if the lawn is going to get mowed one of us will be riding that tractor. 

Relationships, jobs, home repairs, raising children, and our walk with God, all require effort on our part. God does many miracles, but sometimes He requests effort from us. Once we have some of our own work in the game, we tend to get more serious about our request. It also shows others that we mean what we pray. In many situations we get a return equal to our efforts. You desire to have a peaceful relationship at home or the workplace, but what do you bring to the table to make it that way? You get what you plant in my garden. I planted tomatoes and worked the soil, I am getting tomatoes, by the grace of God. You bring anger and strife into your home and guess what? You never find the peace you pray for. You want to have a good paying job? Well you might have to start on the low end and be the best employee you can be and possibly an advance or higher wages will follow. You might be required to obtain additional training or schooling before advancing. Talking about it, isn't effort. Effort requires doing more than mere talking.  Firewood doesn't cut itself, and I have never seen it stack itself either. 

True effort is not an obscene word, it is one that builds and shows character. 

God bless,

Marty