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The one non-negotiable essential to being in God's will [that you probably don't think about].

Imagine Adams life before the fall. 

No sin. No shame. No guilt. No worries. 
Just him, his naked wife and God. Thats it.

All he had to do was enjoy God, raise a family and go to work. 

(insert screeching sound) Wait what? work? 

This was before the fall remember? No way dude. 

Yes way. Yes way indeed. Before the fall, God commanded Adam to work....

Yea, about that. 

Lets be honest, that doesn't fit into our theology. 

Doesn’t Gods perfect will = puppies, rainbows and ice-cream?

I know we don't say that but we think it.

We think being in Gods perfect will is the spiritual equivalent of a long vacation in the bahamas. 

For instance,

* Dating/Marriage:
When singles think about the one, the picture usually doesn't involve pursuing, fighting and busting your butt to win ‘em over.

You vision doesn't include any kind of work. Nah.

Its more like you walk into a room, boys 2 men randomly starts playing in the background. You glance at each other, fall in love and ride off on a white horse into the sunset. With fireworks going off. 

* Jobs:
Or when you imagine your dream job, chances are it involves getting an email from dream company {google/apple/Jesus culture} saying we need you. Or some random phone call offering to pay you 10 times your salary to do what you love. 

Dream job dreams don't often include working our butt off. 

One last one. 

* Ministry:
I'm a Pastor who blogs and is launching a young adults ministry this fall.

In my head, if this is Gods will, I’ll write for years before I gain traction, go to countless meetings, fail and push through seasons of no growth, I'll get 1000 readers on day two. And thousands will show up on day one of our ministry launch. This will be 'easy'. Or 'easier".

I guess I didn't get the memo that Gods work is well, work. 

And if I want to be in Gods will, I’m gonna have to roll up ma’ sleeves and get to work. 

Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. Years. 
Over and Over and Over again. 
Lots of sweat. 

Imagine how many nails Noah pounded.
Or how many battles David fought. 
Or how Moses led millions of people in the desert for 40 years.
Or Josephs unparalleled hard work in prison. 

I guess my challenge today is two fold. 

For those of us who are waiting/praying for Gods will, I think it would do us some good if we got off the couch and got to work.

If you're not in position to be doing the work you wanna be doing, then you should be doing the work you should be doing so you can eventually do the work you wanna be doing. 

And for those of you who are workers...

Intentionally pursuing your future mate. Studying hard in class. Working to provide for family. Writing even when no one is reading. Spending hours preparing for a few minutes. Practicing your guitar till your fingers bleed. Changing a million diapers in 2 days.

Be encouraged. 

I know hard work is not sexy. And no one is giving you an award.

But keep your head up because you're probably a lot closer to Gods will than you think. 
Be encouraged because Gods will is hard work.

[Note: This post is not an encouragement to forsake the most important thing (family) for the sake of work. If for instance you don't ever spend quality time with your wife/kids because of work, thats called selfishness and missing the point NOT hard work. I want my kid to know me as a hard-worker but first I want her to know me as dad]

We all want to be like the heroes of faith in the bible. 

I just hope we remember that there are no lazy bums in Hebrews 11. 

Every biblical great was a hard worker.

Is this making any sense? Why do you think working hard is so under-rated in God's will? So much to talk about. I'd love to hear from you. Here are some more personal application questions to get us going...

How have you or are you working hard in God's will? What's one area where you can work even harder?

Also, who is the hardest worker you know? Tell us about him/her then please share this post with them as an encouragement that their hard-work is a very noble and godly trait.