Built for the Hard Thing
“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”Proverbs 13:4 (KJV)
We spend a lot of energy trying to make life easier. Faster food, softer chairs, fewer hard conversations. And yet the easier life gets, the emptier many of us feel.
Proverbs sees why. “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.” The lazy soul wants and wants and stays hungry. The diligent soul is satisfied. We were built to find satisfaction in doing the good, hard thing.
That includes the hard things God gives us. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Discomfort isn’t always a sign something is wrong. Sometimes it is how fruit grows.
Think about the hard thing in front of you this week. Obeying God, leading your family well, finishing the work. Don’t run from it. It may be the very thing that feeds your soul.
Read it yourself
Read Hebrews 12:5–13. What does the writer say God’s discipline shows about us?
What hard thing have you been avoiding that might actually be good for your soul?
Lord, give me a diligent soul. Help me embrace the hard things you’ve put in front of me, and grow fruit through them. Amen.