Day thirty-three: there is no substitute for diligence

God speaks. I kid you not.

Lately, the voice of God to me has been on the subject of 'diligence'.

Most times, when interacting with people, I sense in their utterances, the thought that I am doing a lot. Honestly, I am under-performing.

One of my struggles in my Christian walk had to do with putting in the work.

In my defense, I most often say that I am weak.

You know, the truth is that when I think upon the attitude I need to develop in seeking God, I get overwhelmed because humanly speaking, I cannot do that much.

Anyway, I was reading the Book of Isaiah today, and I came across this piece of the Scripture in Isaiah 65:21 (KJV):

21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

What drew my attention was the fact that never did Daddy say that I will build the house and they will inhabit it or did He say that He would plant the vineyards for them and cause them to eat.

I saw in this Scripture a fundamental principle which I had failed to grasp for a very long time:

YOU HAVE TO PUT IN THE WORK, baby.

Let me share with you a few thoughts I typed down whiles reading on my Bible App (the YouVersion)

"The blessings of God do not give room for laziness. Daddy does assure us that if we carry out the mandate of production, He will bless the work of our hands. He blessed the one who BUILDS to inhabit. He blessed the one who PLANTS to reap the fruits thereof. If we are willing to be diligent, He will bless every work of ours. Of course, according to His will. The blessing, though, is that unlike the past where we had to do the heavy-lifting all by ourselves, now, we have Holy Spirit indwelling in us. This means that we can, with Him and by Him, put ten thousand to flight. Amen. Diligence has no substitutes."

Beloved, there is no substitute for diligence.

This is hard work but with Holy Spirit, I believe we can do exceedingly and abundantly above all we can ever ask or think according to the power working in us. Holy Spirit IS that Power.

God bless us all.

For further reading:

Isaiah 65:21-23

Ephesians 3:20-21

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