Doing the Difficult AND the Delightful

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

We all have a tendency to delay doing any difficult task; those tasks in which we delight, we do without delay. Because of this truth, let today’s word encourage you to do both the difficult and the delightful without delay. We can glean much from the lives of both Abraham and David. Let’s take a look.

When God called Abraham to offer up His only son Isaac, as unimaginably difficult as that must have been, Abraham did not delay in responding obediently to this command from His God. In the end, God spared Isaac by providing a sacrifice in his place.

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. (Genesis 22:1-3 ESV emphasis added)

God had plans to call David into His service. When David’s father told David to bring provisions to his brothers out on the battlefield, David did not delay in responding obediently to this command. At the end of the day, God delivered the entire Israelite army from the hands of the Philistines when David defeated the giant Goliath.

David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. (1 Samuel 17:20 emphasis added)

I opened our thought for today with Mark 1:35, where we read that Jesus got up early in the morning because He delighted to be in communion with His Father in heaven. Here we have the model for all that we delight in doing. But don’t forget that we also have the model for all that we find difficult to do in the stories of Abraham and David. To be sure, both tasks were difficult, but both were done without delay. They both rose early to get on with the business of their Lord, and this is the model God has set before us for all that He has called us to do — both the difficult and the delightful.

Think about the last time you delayed in doing the difficult. Did it not negatively affect everything else you were doing? We should dread the day when we delay the difficult. So let today’s word encourage you to rise early and do without delay both that in which you delight and that which you find difficult. The Bible shows us that there are blessings at the end of both activities.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!