“When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” Romans 4:4-5 NLT

I’ve learned to be a hard worker from my dad. He is one of the hardest workers I know. Even at almost 85 years old he is always busy. As a child it was rare to see him just relax, enjoy and receive. I developed some of the same tendencies, but we have both gotten better. I am still learning to stop striving and to relax and receive all that God wants to give me. What about you?

God’s love is a gift. We don’t earn it by working hard to please Him or hold back His anger. Salvation is a gift. Jesus bought it and passed it on to all who will receive it. I can’t be good enough to get into heaven.

All good things on earth are a gift. I simply need to receive what God wants to give. But I often feel like I am not working hard enough. Am I trying to deserve all the good God wants to give me? Do you ever feel that way?

Author Joanna Weaver talks about faith and trust in her book Embracing Trust. I’ll summarize the message with this: Faith is what I have. Trust is what I do. Faith in God acts by trusting God. Trust opens my hands to receive what God wants to give. Are my hands open? Are yours?

What am I working for?

“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT

What is God doing? I am still not sure. I am a healthy person, but in the last three months, I have found myself with doctors multiple times. If you are a regular reader, then you know about the fall in May that broke both my wrists and led to surgery on the right wrist. A miraculous, immediate healing would have been nice, but I knew it would take time to recover. My orthopedist says we are almost “out of the weeds”. Praise God! Recovery has taken more effort and patience than I imagined, but it wasn’t unexpected.

Most recently I ended up in the doctor’s office for something that seems small and unnecessary. If you know me as well as my husband does, you know that even deciding to see the doctor is a big deal. My practice with most anything is to try to figure it out myself first or wait to see if it resolves. I don’t ask for help until I am absolutely certain that I need it. That has not served me well when it comes to medical issues. I confess I sometimes wait too long before heading to the doctor’s office or emergency room.

I was experiencing ear pain and then couldn’t hear out of my left ear. After a few days of trying to resolve the issue, I determined the problem was earwax that wasn’t responding to home treatment. Earwax! Come on! Do I really need a doctor for that? I called and was surprised to get an appointment the same day. I thought I would go in, get it taken care of, and go home healed. Not so!

My diagnosis was correct, but my expectation was not. The PA could not flush out the wax with the normal tools. It was too hard! She told me to continue drops at home to soften it and come back in a few days so they could flush it out.

Tom told me the doctor I was to see on my return visit “doesn’t mess around.” I didn’t look forward to the process but was confident I would go home hearing. But no! After some uncomfortable efforts he told me what he had already done would normally have removed it. The largest clump was still too hard. He sent me home to continue drops for another five days and then come back… again! The next day my ear began to open, and I could hear...most of the time. Finally, I went back to the doctor and left with success. But still questions.

Why does God sometimes require us to participate in the healing process rather than give us a quick resolution? I’ve got a few thoughts about that. I hope they encourage you.

Patience requires trust. If you and I are honest, we want a quick healing so we can just go on with life as it was.