I was around several teenagers at camp when one of their t-shirts caught my attention. On the back, in bright orange letters, it stated,
“Work Will Win When Wishing Won’t”
I thought about that statement the rest of the day and still can’t seem to shake it.
There is a big difference between working and wishing! We tend to try to
wish our problems away:
We wish we had better marriages.
We wish we spent more time with our children.
We wish we read the Bible more.
We wish we were different.
We wish our lives were better.
We wish a lot and why not?
Wishing is easy. Wishing doesn’t constitute any commitment, effort, or time.
We could
wish all day for this or that but in order for wishing to be productive; it
should always be followed by work.
There are several examples in the Bible of people who didn’t waste time just
wishing - they did the work.
Noah didn’t wish an ark into existence.
Genesis 6:22 says,
"Thus Noah did;
according to all that God commanded him, so he did."
David didn’t wish for Goliath to fall. I
Samuel 17:49 says,
"Then David put his
hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine
in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his
face to the earth."
Moses didn’t wish his people were free from Egypt.
Exodus 12:50-51 says,
"thus
all the children of Israel did; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they
did. And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies."
Peter didn’t wish he could walk on water.
Matthew 14:29-30 says,
"And Peter
answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the
water.' So He said, 'Come.' And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he
walked on the water to go to Jesus."
God didn’t wish there was a way we could be saved.
John 3:16 says,
"For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life."
Stop wishing for that person you love to obey the gospel and pick up the phone.
Quit complaining about your marriage and make it right. Open that Bible, offer
that apology, or take that first step. We need to stop wishing, start praying,
and get to work.
Great things will happen when God’s people stop just wishing and start working!
I was around several teenagers at camp when one of their t-shirts caught my attention. On the back, in bright orange letters, it stated,