To The Work!

June 28, 2020 (Tuesday)

The year was 1955 and Wanda and I had resigned our church in Lampasas, moving to Fort Worth where I intended to get back in the seminary while working at a secular job. We had one child and another on the way, and we were having a hard time keeping all our bills paid and finding time to go to classes. We attended a large Fort Worth church where they had a big Training Union class for people our age. I got up one night and whined about our situation, asking for prayer. The lady who followed me said, “You know, everybody is having a hard time.” I learned that night never to whine. Instead just make sure you are doing the best you can and trust the Lord to supply your needs and give you meaning in life.

I hear people complaining about the way they have been treated, whining as I did about their needs not being met, and I think about what that lady said: “You know, everybody is having a hard time.” In other words, stop complaining and find ways to meet your goals and enhance your life. What happens in your life will be up to you.

I don’t like to hear people offer excuses for failure while blaming someone else for their problems. The success stories abound of people who have risen from poverty, etc. because they were willing to give life their best shot, without complaint.

Abraham Lincoln was born to a poor family in a log cabin, living in wildernesses yet finding books to read so that he could educate himself. His mother and later, his stepmother helped him to maintain his love of learning.

His successor, Andrew Johnson, had the misfortune to be impeached, but that was all politics and a study of his life reveals a man who was illiterate but got educated and learned a trade. In time he was educated and wealthy, so he entered politics and became Vice President under Lincoln.

There are countless stories of the successes of people who faced adversity and hard times who never gave up and refused to remain on the receiving end of charity, instead becoming generous philanthropists because of their attainments when they would not quit but kept on trying There is a stirring old hymn for which Fanny Crosby provided the words, “To The Work!” As we look forward to the future, we know it is brimming with opportunities of service to our Lord. This hymn reminds us that our faith is not only about what God does for us, but also about what we can do for Him.

In the video that follows, the words of this hymn are displayed as they are sung. We need to let these words penetrate our hearts and souls, inspiring us to serve our Lord.

“The Dallas Christian Adult Concert Choir” sings the melody (“Toiling On”) of To the Work” composed by William Howard Doane 1871, and sings words written long ago by Fanny Crosby.