YAHWEH'S MOUTHPIECE

Is hard work really God’s will for us? This is a question we should have answers to by the end of this article.

I have come to realise that we have embraced so many concepts, ideologies, terminologies and mantras that cannot be accurately substantiated from the scriptures. There are so many motivational messages that can end up leading you into misery. The concept of hard work, I believe, is one of them. And I want you to approach this with an open mind.

To start with, let me put a disclaimer. The opposite of laziness is not hard work. The opposite of laziness is diligence. Diligence is not the same as hard work. 

The second thing I’ll say to lay a foundation is that work is scriptural, and that is what Adam was given when God placed him in the garden. Genesis 2:15 (KJV) “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

The scripture I found that puts in context what hard work truly means is Exodus 1:14 (KJV) “And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve was with rigour.”

This verse captures the reality of many today in the world of work. The word bondage, as used in that verse, means work or service, which in itself is valid and required, according to the scriptures. The qualification of the labour is what we are particularly concerned about. The scripture calls it hard labour (bondage). The scripture went on to explain the kind of service (work) they were engaged in, qualifying that it was with rigour. 

We hear certain terminologies like “hustle” and “grind”. I make bold to say that these terms and captions speak to a kind of labour – a labour in bondage.

I take exception to that kind of life and labour.

What the scripture emphasises for us is diligence rather than hard work, and so that it sinks in, I’ll call it hard labour. The scripture enjoins us to labour diligently both spiritually and in every service and activity we are engaged in. 

2 Peter 1:5 (KJV) “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge…” A very popular scripture is also Proverbs 22:29, “Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men.”

One major reason why hard work is a concept alien to God’s plan for you is that it proposes that the outcome of your life is solely dependent on how much labour you engage in. And so the “harder” and the more you “grind”, the more results you’ll have. What we see from the scriptures is that while we must labour and do so diligently, there is an Alpha determinant of the outcome of our lives – God. 

Psalm 127:1 (KJV) says. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Verse two says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: For so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

The Good News Translation of verse 2 says, “It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the LORD provides for those he loves, while they are asleep.”

Hard work preaches labour for survival; diligent labour preaches labouring purposefully. If truly God can provide for those He loves while they are asleep, it means that God’s design of work is not for survival.

God’s ordination of work for man is not for survival, but rather, an assignment in his purpose. If you find yourself labouring just for survival, working just to earn a living, you’re engaging in hard labour. It is what Solomon called “rising up early and sitting up late to eat the bread of sorrows.”

Adam was not given work so he could survive. In fact, all that he needed for survival was already provided for before he was created. God was his source, meeting his needs through the assignment he was given. By that template, God plants us in a place of assignment, a job, a career, even a ministry, and through it sustains us.

Can I present to you the kind of labour that God wants us to engage in? It is the template of Paul.“I am what I am by the grace of God”, he said. “Howbeit I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I but the grace of God which was with me”. I call this ENGRACED LABOUR. 

Three things we see from Paul’s statement. First, is that His results were primarily attributable to the grace of God, not His labour. It is not cliché or an attempt to sound spiritual to boldly declare that our successes, progress and results stem primarily from the grace of God. 

Secondly, Paul said, “I laboured more abundantly than they all.” Paul laboured and laboured abundantly. We can say he laboured diligently. Diligence is giving your best to a cause. “Whatever thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” Ecclesiastes 9:10 (KJV). Hard work is doing something under a weight of bondage.

Grace is not an escape route from labour in itself; it is the resource for an accurate and fruitful labour. It is the reason for labour. The fact that there was a garden already prepared was the reason a man was needed to tend and keep it.

Thirdly, Paul said, “Yet not I but the grace of God which was with me.” The ability to labour, labour abundantly and accurately was supplied by grace. Any labour outside of the supply of God’s grace is tantamount to hard labour, a labour in futility.

Just when I was contemplating whether or not to publish this article, I found a statement online. 

“I’m not Yakubu,
I will not manage.
I am anointed 
I will thrive.”

God has called us to labour, but according to the grace God has given unto us.

“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Romans 12:6 – 8 (KJV)

If you realise you are labouring in futility, with struggles and no purpose, it’s time to quit hard labour, subscribe to God’s grace and engage in engraced labour. 

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28 – 30 (KJV)

I trust that this blessed you. Please share.