The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, 

while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. 

Proverbs 13:4

I'm a child of the midwest, USA. Good work ethic is something that was taught, modeled, and woven into the fabric of my value system. I've always known that something worth having is something worth working hard for.... and this goes into all areas of life: relationships, money, accomplishments, etc. 

But (and now I'm gonna pick on my generation a bit) in working with young people and interacting with all types of people from all over the globe, we are becoming more and more affected by our "instant" society. I feel that we have made a shift to losing patience if we can't get what we want or accomplish something right away. 

When I moved to my last location overseas, my thinking was "I have to get this done RIGHT AWAY because time is running short. And God is in it so he will bless it and make things happen." I was frustrated and disillusioned and questioned the strength of my faith when things didn't happen as fast as I wanted them to. I find that my thinking is different at this stage in the game (granted, I'm not THAT much more mature, maybe just a bit more experienced and sobered by reality) but I'm much more willing to wait and realizing, I need to put in a bit of work. 

"Language learning is so hard! I just keep asking God to give me the gift of tongues so I can speak fluently." This was a conversation I've heard more than once from more than one person. Putting in the work seems like a waste of time to get where we want. 

"Things in ministry are going so slow. The people I'm discipling just don't seem to get it." 

"I really want to know the Bible more but I don't have time to study it like you've gotten to." It's as though our generation has equated things not happening right away to failure (in themselves, others or God) or to it not being worth it because they are not getting results instantly. 

One thing the Bible shows me and one thing working in discipleship has opened my eyes more to is that the journey is often more important than the destination. Time and time again, God circles the same issues with the same people, patiently waiting while they make the same mistakes again and again. He's in no rush. Discipleship takes time; it's messy and it's a lot of work to walk with people through their stuff. Language learning takes time, effort, bad days and good days, but along the way you make discoveries and you value the language in ways you never would if you could suddenly just know all the right words to say. The relationships that require the long talks, the effort and the work are usually the ones we value the most and would be the most painful to lose. 

Those people in life who have had to fight and work for where they are often seem to value it so much more than those who have just been handed it (not always, but generally). I think hard work and not getting things instantaneously is actually a gift from God. We are so quick to not appreciate and I believe it's a beautiful thing to value the things in life that are good....relationships, accomplishing things like finishing school or learning a language or becoming skilled for a job, knowing the word of God more deeply because you've invested time in it, building up a ministry or seeing a friend you've been praying for come to a deeper place with God. 

Just because it's easy, doesn't mean it's better. In some ways I think it's the other way around. So my encouragement to those of you who may be in the middle of a painfully slow and hard journey that is taking a lot of effort, hang in there. Thank God for the work because it's opening your heart to appreciation. You are getting the gift of truly valuing the things in your life. And don't give up because you're probably in the middle of something that is more of a blessing than the burden of the effort it's taking you to move forward. Your soul is being richly supplied.