Do The Work.

The strawberries taste like strawberries. The snozberries taste like snozberries. Snozzberries? What the heck of a snozzberry? We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the laws.

This is the Music Makers podcast where I read things out loud to you and then offer my unqualified opinions on them. Today's article is Do the Work by Laurie Ferguson. If something is difficult for you, consider 2 things. The first is it is difficult because it is worth doing. I read a quote the other day.

Let's allow our tables to distress at their own pace as a result of years of real conversations and sometimes awkward, not so picture perfect meals, end quote. There's something holistic and beautiful about the long obedience, parenting children, crafting a book, making a well made meal, sanctification. These things, as Linford Detweiler said, quote, do the work in us. We need them to do the work in us. Simply because they are difficult doesn't mean they ought to be avoided.

The second thing to consider is the task is difficult for you because you are not the best person to do the work. There's no shame in not being the right person for a particular task, or creation, or job. If you have something to say, but struggle to form the written words necessary to say it, consider that God might have designed you to live that something instead of write it. If you yearn to make furniture, or meals, or art, and yet they don't come easily and somewhat naturally, consider that you are not meant to make furniture, or art, or meals. But perhaps you are meant to make people laugh, or to be a good storyteller.

Or perhaps you are simply meant to make a good cup of tea, and set a place at your table for someone who needs to be listened to. Jesus swept sawdust for 30 years before his public ministry. That comforts me so many times in so many ways. Sweeping sawdust was what his father called him to do, faithful and steady, until his father was ready for him to do good works of a different sort. Embrace the difficult work of today.

It is working in you a more lasting treasure. I don't have a ton to add to this one but the one thing that I want to pick out is the single phrase, the long obedience. We don't like the long obedience. We like the immediate result. We like the quick and easy solution.

We like the 10 ways to fix whatever. We don't like day after day after day working at something for years years. And that's what I think this long obedience is. You know, they say the days are long but the years are short. And that same idea applies to progress under persistent discipline.

You don't become a better husband overnight. You don't become a better husband by doing 3 easy things. You become a better husband by working at it every day for years. You don't write a book by sitting down and writing a book. You write a book by writing every day for a long time.

And then suddenly you look back and you've written a book. But every day when you're writing, it doesn't feel like you're making progress. But it's the persistent discipline of sitting down every morning and writing. And there's something beautiful about that. There's something noble about that.

Laurie quotes Linford Detweiler when he said that those things, quote, do the work in us. This long obedience, this idea of persistent discipline changes us. So what's yours? That that's what I wanna know. I wanna hear what is your long obedience.

What are you being obedient to in the long term? Is it growing spiritually? Is it becoming a better husband? A better wife? A better mom?

A better dad? A better friend? Is it building a business? Is it writing a book? Because there's gotta be something.

Can't be moving from news feed to news feed, from quick fix to quick fix. What's the thing you're working on? 10 years from now, what are you gonna be grateful that you started today? And if you don't know, think about it. 10 years from now, what are you gonna wish you had started today?

So for me, I'm an evangelical Christian. And I get up every single morning with my wife and we read the Bible together. And day to day, it doesn't feel like I'm gaining a ton of knowledge or growing closer to the Lord or anything like that. But month to month it does. And year to year it definitely does.

So that's mine. What's yours? Send me an email. I really want to know. And if you don't have one, think about it.

You'll thank me 10 years from now. You can see the show notes for this episode or leave a comment by going to musicmakers.fm/4. You can subscribe in iTunes by searching for Musicmakers. And please leave a review by going to musicmakers.fm/review.