The minute he walks in the door he is working.  He will stop working long enough for a friendly conversation but the second the exchange is over he is right back to it.  He never slows down.  He never stops.  What drives him to work so hard? 

I work with PhDs, research scientists, and fellow lab technicians and no one works any harder than this guy does.  He never complains and always wears a never ending smile.  Many people go through life chasing, reaching, and wishing they could have just a piece of what he has.  What brings him so much joy?

I absolutely love my job.  It’s incredibly simple yet so complex.  It’s challenging, meaningful, and rewarding.  Our work improves lives and helping people warms my heart.  I have many reasons to smile when I go to work.  I have many reasons to give my best when I walk in the lab. 

Where we are right now, whatever our lot in life, we are where we are supposed to be.  It can be real easy to walk through life saying some people have it all or some people seem to have all the luck, all the while feeling miserably inadequate with our job, our past choices, or even our spouse.  True happiness is not found in acquiring something, spending more time on ourselves, achieving a goal, having our needs met, or gaining self-confidence.  True happiness comes from knowing why we are here.  True happiness comes when we realize we are no accident.  Each one of us is specially designed and crafted by God for a purpose.  The world categorizes and classifies people into groups and many people are written off before they are even born.  But God does not see us that way.  God digs through the world’s trash because He knows what He created is special.  He knows He will find special treasure there. 

My friend I spoke of does not have a fancy job title and does not have what most would consider a rewarding job.  What he does have is faith.  He knows no matter what other people think of him and no matter how much or how little he has accomplished by the world’s standards, he is royalty.  Even though he picks up my trash and cleans the restroom I frequent, he is content.  He is content because he knows this life on earth is only a test and to pass he only needs faith, hope, and love.  He is content because He knows Jesus Christ. 

I pray the world sees you as I see my friend.  I pray that you shine brightly.  Those that proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God’s spirit and whoever has God’s Spirit should look very different from those that do not.  Do you blend into the world or do you stand out?  Do you hide when someone calls for help or do you run to their side?  Do you pile trash on those around you to make yourself feel better or do you see the beautiful person underneath a pile of poverty, guilt, and shame?  We are either living for ourselves or we are living for God.  Our attitude, our actions, and our words show the world who we are while our deepest desires and thoughts show God.  Who would the world say you are living for?  When you are by yourself and no one is looking are you the same?     
      
Daniel 12:3 "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Over the past several weeks I have been working on a very large project in my backyard.  Shortly after I began leveling a hillside by hand, I knew I would be writing a blog about it.  As the days went by and the pick ax continued to break the ground, God spoke to me.  What I didn’t know was that I would be writing about this project before it was complete.  But something profound happened to me while working on it last week and God gave me an entirely different message to share. 

Shovel full after shovel full of dirt went into the wheelbarrow.  Loaded wheelbarrow after loaded wheelbarrow was pushed down the muddy hillside toward my front yard.  Finally after all these years I was doing something about the over grown hillside beside the house.  At the same time, I was also fixing another persistent problem with the extra dirt.   The low spot in the front yard that always transformed into a small pond after a good rain would be no more. 

As hard as it usually was to drive the fully loaded wheelbarrow down the steep hill where I was digging, this particular day presented an even tougher challenge.  The project area had taken on a large amount of rain the day before and the hillside and more so the base of the hillside had become a muddy mess.  Before every running trip down the slippery slope I would pray, “God please help me to not slip and fall.  Please help me to not get hurt.”

A couple of hours into the grueling work, I noticed I began digging in some heavy clay soil.  It was much harder to shovel and move and I decided because of the added weight, it was wise to not fill the wheelbarrow quite so full.  Like the dozen or so trips beforehand that morning, I said my prayer and away I went, running behind the heavy load.  But this trip down the hillside ended abruptly when the front of the wheelbarrow caught in the ground, flipping the wheelbarrow upside down.  How I stayed on my feet and did not get hurt could only be described as an answered prayer but that didn’t stop me from getting angry. 

Over the next several minutes as I scooped the clay back into the wheelbarrow I fumed with God.  I had gotten so caught up in the moment I failed to realize that even though that trip down the hill didn’t go like I had planned, I was not hurt and I was still standing.  But it wasn’t until my next trip down the hill that I was reminded of how much greater God is than I.  With the wheelbarrow once again loaded to the top, I said my prayers and away I went. 

I will be honest, I was more fearful before this trip than I had been previously.  Every other trip I had completely trusted in God to keep me safe and even though I was not hurt when the wheelbarrow flipped over, I felt He had let me down.  I was now starting to doubt.  I was shaken.

I soon realized my anxiety, my fear, and my anger were for nothing.  I ran behind the wheelbarrow with ease as it glided over the freshly laid clay that covered what was a muddy mess.  Not only had God kept me safe when I fell, he had actually prevented me from falling in the future.  Of all the loads of dirt I had taken down the hillside that morning, only one load contained hard clay.  And that one load of clay couldn’t have dumped in a more perfect place.  It doesn’t matter how much it rains now, the base of the hill is solid ground. 

When I first began working that morning I realized that the base of the hill was going to be a problem.  I stopped on a couple of occasions to gather rocks and I threw them into the mud.  Even though my efforts may have possibly helped a little bit, those efforts didn’t compare to how God fixed the problem. 

Life is a muddy mess.  Life does not always go like we had planned.  We can throw rocks into the mud hoping our efforts will help us not to slip, or we can trust that God is in control.  We must be careful to not get caught up in this life.  We must be sure we don’t try to do it on our own.  God knows the mud you have been in and He knows where you are going.  He knows how hard it is to push that heavy wheelbarrow.  He knows how easy it is for you to slip.  Sometimes a struggle or a difficulty can anger or frustrate us but after the pain and heartache ease up we often realize God was only trying to put us on solid ground. 

As I prayed about writing this blog this morning God gave me Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”