Tough Yards

Tough Yards Life was never going to be easy. Something in us longs for that easy sort of life. The American Dream There was a time in America where the concept of the American dream had become very real. People who worked hard and found a niche were getting filthy rich and changing their social status tremendously. Rags to riches and then of course riches seems to equal ease. Ease and the American Dream Today, it seems the American dream is alive and well but people have forgotten that the dream is not a life of ease or a day when your ship has finally come in but rather a successful strategy for changing your situation. Freedom is not found in someone, some mysterious stranger who will bestow success upon you. It's found in getting the job done because you are working hard and living for God. Working Hard When you put in your extreem effort and trust the outcome to God you will go to bed tired and yet comfortable. Too much ease is not good for a soul. Too meteroic of a rise is not good either. God made us to work and because of Adam's sin we have to overcome many challenges in order to be able to do so. Think of them as thorns and thistles. You have to either navigate around or overcome them in order to plant a successful crop. Getting Sick So, you'll be sick-take cold medicine, take a hot shower, get as much rest as you can, but do not feint. Do what must be done. Successful servants of God almost never take the day off for illness. There are exceptions of course. However, your job isn't better without you. God gave it to you and being sick and missing it is still a sin even if you think you are justified. Is getting Sick a sin? Hold on! Did he just say being sick is a sin? No, but think for a moment how many factors you can control in Christ that go into whether you get sick or not. Bottom line is, if you are so sick that being there legitimately endangers others- Let's simplify, Fever and vomiting in industries where you are in close proximity to people or food, for example-then miss. Being Proactive But, where it is in your control, be aggressively proactive so that you do not get that kind of sick and if you are not that sick, but uncomfortable, get over it and do what you are supposed to do. People push themselves for what they really want and you need to really want this. be faithful and 1) Tend you body (Sabbath, vitamins, exercise, nutirition, sleep) 2) Make your "work" whatever it is, a REALLY high priority. 3) Don't give up without a fight-calling off should be a last resort-which basically means, it should never happen (almost never.) Take it from a guy who used to be a hiring manager. That's what employers are looking for. Take it from a pastor, but more importantly, take it from God's word-James 4:17 he that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin (Where's the excuse of illness?) Get up and go to work for God. Pastor Dan newheightsfellowshipchurch.org