Path to Prosperity (Part Two)

Read Proverbs 6:6-11

Path To Prosperity (Part Two)
Work Hard

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

One of my favorite movies of all time is Where the Red Fern Grows. Even though I “ugly" cry every single time I watch it! There’s so many great lessons in the book and movie. There is one specific movie scene that stuck out to me as a kid and I have hung on to it for years and years. Every time I am lacking something or wanting something RIGHT NOW, I remember the scene when Billy was talking to his grandpa about wanting hounds some kind of bad:

Grandpa: Well, it’s been my experience God helps those who help themselves. Now, don’t get me wrong. If God wanted to, he could give you hounds as easy as cuttin’ lard. But that wouldn’t do much for your character.

Billy: I don’t want character! I want dogs!

Grandpa: And if you want them bad enough, you’ll get them, Billy. And if you want God’s help bad enough, you’ll meet him half way.

God provided the puppies that Billy really wanted but they cost $50.00 and of course Billy nor anyone he knew had that kind of money.  But, God provided jobs for Billy to work along with the determination to see the jobs through. Billy met God half way by working hard to make the money to buy the pups and by trusting in God to supply what he needed and wanted. Gosh I love that moment in the movie!

It’s really so simple and I think because it is so simple, we try to make it hard. There have been times when I needed money and I fretted thinking “what am I going to do” the bills outweigh the income? I would read Matthew 6:25-33 out loud over and over again and pray. God always provided for me when I prayed this passage over my situation. Can you guess how God provided for me so that I had clothes to wear, food to eat and a home to leave in? He sent me work. Oh yes, I know that is not a very popular answer. Now, I DO believe God can send me clothes out of thin air, have someone hand me the keys to a paid for, new car or drop a hundred-dollar bill on the ground for me to pick up. Which he has. I have seen homes and vehicles gifted to people with no strings attached. I have personally found money at my feet when I needed it and I have had money spontaneously appear in my bank account.  However, I also know God honors effort and God honors hard work. A lot of times people miss out on their blessing because it looks like a job. (Jobs come in ALL shapes, forms and sizes)

Proverbs 10:4-5 Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

Proverbs 12:11  Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

My husband (Chris) and I have been married for two years, it will be three in February, and we really wanted to go on a nice honeymoon after our wedding. We did not have the money to go somewhere fun and exciting, and we were not going to put ourselves in debt or skip paying bills trying to do so. Being fiscally responsible and conscientious is a huge step in achieving prosperity as well (let’s talk about that in my next post). So, I prayed about it!

I prayed, “Lord, you know the desires of our hearts and I know you care about our happiness above and beyond our basic needs. We really want to go to Cabo for our honeymoon, please provide a way for us to afford it.”  

Ya’ll… I was walking around and looking down for money on every curb and sidewalk in Nashville for weeks after that. I checked the mail for checks and the bank account for deposits. Well, God chose not to provide us with money in those forms that time, but he did provide two part-time jobs for Chris and me. So, 4 days a week, after our full-time jobs, we traveled to stores around Nashville and merchandised product. It wasn’t easy, but we did it together. Sometimes we would finish at 3am and have to be at work by 8am for our real jobs. But you know what?? We made enough money to buy our plane tickets and stay at the resort of our choice! How cool is it that God cares enough to provide not only our needs, but also our wants!

One night while we were out walking the boardwalk under the Mexican moon, I just stopped and said, “Thank you, God, for this. We did this, we worked hard for this through the jobs You gave us and now we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor.”

How amazing it felt to know we earned this experience together. Some of my best memories are of driving around Nashville, working with Chris to reach our honeymoon budget goal. God knew we needed that time spent together to grow.  He knew that providing us a way to provide for ourselves was the best way to teach us. We grew a lot in that season. We have always been taught to work hard and that a reward earned is sweeter than a reward just given. Don’t get me wrong, there are days we would much rather just hang out, watch some TV, go fishing or do something more fun than our 9-5. I am confident one day we will be able to afford that luxury, but until then we will work the jobs God has provided us. I encourage you to run the race that has been given you and God will make the fruits of your labor sweeter than anything you can imagine.