Lazy vs Workaholic

Is there a true competition: lazy vs workaholic? Are you on more than the other? This topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

I was sitting here doing laundry and I was thinking about the different responsibilities that God has given me and conversations that we’re having behind the scenes.

Especially since our study guide came out a few weeks ago to coincide with the book, Love Fast Live Slow, which we released back in June (again, thank you for your support!)

As I was thinking about opportunities that have been presented to us, I thought about how God has definitely had to bridle my ambition. I’ve asked myself if both extremes (lazy vs workaholic) are the same disobedience.

Is one worse than the other? I’ve also needed the motivation to do what He has asked me to do. And that’s a hard balance, right?

The question of ‘Am I doing too much’ or ‘Am I doing too little?’ This is a battle that I have fought internally for most of my adult life.

Even throughout college, I had to figure out where the happy medium was. I constantly have to sort out what exactly God is asking me to do. Because I don’t want to be lazy, but I also don’t want to be tired.

So where is the balance between lazy vs workaholic?

I think if you look around, there are a lot of messages regarding this topic. Do you go 100% all the time for the Lord?

Because you only have now and your life is just a vapor, so go all in? Or is it the other side? The side that says to respect the sabbath, and make sure you spend time in silence and solitude to find that refuge, so you have that calm cadence in your heart.

Those are two very different messages. Where is the middle ground? Where do we walk?

I started thinking about this story in Exodus where God led the Israelites out into the wilderness.

Every single day, God showed up and led them. He took care of them, He made sure their needs were met.

He told them to go out into the fields each day and gather manna, the food that they needed. He said to only get enough for that day.

If they didn’t go out and do the work, if they didn’t collect what they needed from what He had given them, they would be hungry because there was nothing else.

He also said that if they took too much, it would just go bad because it would not last to the next night. If they tried to be greedy and hoard food in an attempt to have more, it would just go to waste.

And if they didn’t go out at all, they would be hungry (except on Saturdays, God wanted them to get double the amount of manna to last through the next day, because Sunday was a day of rest).

So I thought about how that story could be applicable to my life.

The wrestle between lazy vs workaholic can calm because God wants us to operate with a 24-hour mentality.

We need to show up and do what He’s asking us to do today. Walk in obedience for today.

And truthfully, I am stubborn enough that I don’t know that I can make commitments past 24 hours of obedience.

I struggle with even an hour or a minute of obedience, because I’m naturally selfish.

We do our own things, we have our own way. We have real emotions that we let boil up and take control over having a godly attitude.

But God is telling us to not do too little or too much. Do enough. Don’t focus so far ahead, just focus on what you need to do for today, for right now.

We need to be able to say, “God, I don’t really know exactly what you want me to do, but I’m going to say yes, and I’m going to be ok if it’s small and I’m going to be ok if it’s big.”

One of my mentors said this, and I think it’s a really brilliant quote. She said, “Don’t be sad if it’s small and don’t be scared if it’s big.”

So whatever God is asking of you, show up for that 24-hour period in obedience. Give it all you’ve got, because the next day He can renew your strength.

Isaiah 41 says you can ask for God to renew your strength because His power, His energy, and His effort never fail. He never grows weary. He can renew our energy.

Don’t be lazy.

Don’t be a workaholic.

Focus on living a 24-hour life in obedience, walk in that mindset, and know that the Israelites had this struggle too. Don’t try to walk ahead to get where God wants you to go faster.

There is no way you can go somewhere faster than where God is leading you. Focus on His pace, focus on His tempo.

Lazy vs Workaholic