 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. Nehemiah 4:6
It’s what Proverbs calls our most precious possession: diligence. It means to move quickly and do your best. It is a skillful hustle. More plainly, diligence is work ethic; it’s the moral obligation to do one’s best. It means you don’t look for an easy way out or leave the difficult jobs for someone else. If something needs be fixed, you fix it. If something needs to be cleaned, you clean it. If something must be done you, do it. It’s this demonstration of character that distinguishes you as a person of value, deserving of promotion and advance. Success doesn’t “just happen.” It happens because diligence made it happen. Lou Holtz, the only college football coach to lead six different college football programs to bowl games and four different programs to the final top 20 rankings, understood the value of diligence. He said, “Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they're making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that's the difference.” Diligence isn’t suffering, it’s the fertile soil of opportunity. It’s the difference between winning and losing, success and failure, and going to the next level or staying stuck in complacency. Opportunity is not sitting idle and waiting for someone to open a door for you. Opportunity is found in the hustle and hard work. It’s early mornings and late nights; it’s long, hot days and tired afternoons. Opportunity presents itself in the refusal to cut corners and quit. Opportunity doesn’t just appear, it is provoked, incited and inspired to appear by diligence. Work hard—harder than anyone else—and see how opportunity presents itself. Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” This is especially important for people of faith to understand. It’s amazing how many Christians believe success will come if they simply get a “man of God” to lay hands on them or a “prophet” to prophesy over them. They believe the con-artist-preachers who say, “Bring an offering and I’ll pray an anointing upon your life for success and prosperity.” Or, “Come to my church and I’ll lay hands on you and impart an unction for favor in your business.” New cars, new homes, more clients, greater revenue—all you need is a prayer, an anointing. I even heard one preacher toting his “Holy-Ghost-Anointed Pens.” He said, “Use these pens that are anointed by God and you’ll pass every exam and succeed in every contract.” Nonsense. Not only is it not biblical, it’s a heresy that borders on witchcraft. It’s spiritual junk food. It has no value, no nutrition or substance. There’s no talk of hard work, discipline, study, preparation, core competencies or simply having a good attitude. Just get someone to pray for you and you will succeed. Ludicrous. If there is any formula for success or prescription for promotion, it’s not found in a prophet’s prayer, it’s found in diligence. In Matthew 25, Jesus emphasized the need for diligence in His Parable of the Talents. There were three workers; each was given resources according to his ability. One was given five talents, another two talents and the last was given one talent. The reward they received, the next level to which each was assigned, was proportionate to their performance, their diligence. Those who worked hard, properly prepared, demonstrated diligence and became productive were promoted. Those who did not, were condemned. The message is clear. God has incredible plans for our lives. There are things He wants to release to us, blessings He wants to give us, but the key to receiving them is faithful diligence. This is what He meant when Jesus said, “'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” There’s no mention of one’s special gifting, talent or skill. Those who worked hard—who demonstrated diligence where promoted to the next level. Check back next week for further discussion diligence. Or, check out my newest book, Upward: Taking Your Life to the Next Level. Comments are closed.
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It was concerning King Saul that David said, “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished.” His was a life that began with great promise and celebration, but ended in miserable failure and humiliation. His life is an example of how the mightiest of leaders fail.
Why do great men and women fall? How do leaders, quick to ascend with such promise of unparalleled success, find themselves awash in disastrous failure and disgrace? More importantly, can the path toward one’s downfall be discerned before it’s too late and be avoided? It is the premise of my newest book, How The Mighty Have Fallen that such a decline can be detected and reversed. The life and leadership career of King Saul, Israel's first king, provides us with a treasury of examples of "what not to do." The below blog post is the first in series of excerpts from the book to examine and avoid Saul's mistakes and find a successful path through leadership. READ AN EXCERPT |
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