We are to the final week of the Discipline series and I want to encourage you.  If you’ve fallen off the bandwagon – don’t beat yourself up – just get back up and start again. Do not give up! And in case you are wondering…I fell off the bandwagon this week with my week 1 challenge – to lose 5 pounds in 5 weeks and I’m at 2 pounds in 4 weeks - so I really need to be disciplined this week.  I’m not giving up!

This weeks Discipline is Work.

Let’s begin with the origin of work.  You may remember in Genesis 3:19, that after Adam and Eve sinned, God banished them from the garden and he cursed the ground.  God said to Adam “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” meaning – Adam was going to have to work hard and sweat to provide food for his family.

BUT…

There was work before the fall.  Actually – Adam was working before Eve had even been created.  Look at Genesis 2:15:

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” 

Work was ordained by God in the perfect Garden of Eden.  Adam was not meant to be idle.  And we are not to be idle.

Work is not a curse.

Elizabeth Elliot writes:
“Work is a blessing.  God has so arranged the world that work is necessary and He gives us hands and strength to do it.  The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure.  It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest…I never appreciated the tremendous therapeutic value of work until I lost my first husband…my husband’s death made me unutterably grateful to God for plain, ordinary housework…I was barely able to get through the day but the work was there and by the grace of God I did it.”

Work is a blessing.  A Christian woman should be characterized as a woman who is willing to work hard.  Colossians 3;23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” We are not working for money, status or men - we are working for the glory of God!

In Proverbs 31:13 the Proverbs 31 woman is described as having “eager hands“.  She does her work willingly and with a good attitude.

I could nickname my oldest sister, Kristen, as an “eager” beaver!  She is a fast moving, high energy, cooking, cleaning, multi-tasking machine!  When we moved into our new home 2 years ago, the entire extended family – children and all – arrived to help me clean and unpack.  She took charge from the moment she stepped into my house.  She rolled her sleeves up, put on her gloves and to work she went – periodically she took a break to inspect my work and my other sister’s cleaning.  Her response was “push harder – put some muscle into it!” So we sneaked away to an upstairs bathroom where we could work in a care-free environment and 30 minutes later she arrived – looked at our work and had more advice on how to clean more effectively and efficiently…I think it involved a Q-tip to clean in the cracks…lol!  And by the way – it was my house and I’m slightly less wired than she is (only slightly) so I really didn’t care about the cracks!  While we got a lot of laughs out of our different work ethics that day – after everyone left my husband commented on how amazingly hard and eager my sister Kristen works.  I WANT that!  I admire that in her!  She has a very blessed family!

Would those who live in your home describe you as a woman with “eager hands“?

That’s our challenge!

Week 5 Challenge:
Work with eager hands this week!  Pray and ask God to give you an eager attitude all day long.  Do your work as unto the Lord.  Remember the meaning behind your work in the home – all of it added up equals a well nurtured home and family.  Research and find inspiration in magazines or on-line.  Find a woman with eager hands and learn off of her.   If all day long you have been feeding and caring for babies, listening, comforting, training, teaching, cooking and cleaning – you will be tired.  REST – guilt-free!  God does not condemn rest – he condemns laziness (2 Thess. 3:10).

As we end this series on the topic of work – it flows perfectly into the next 14 week series that is about to begin next Monday here on the Proverbs 31 Woman.  The Proverbs 31 Woman is a diligent and disciplined woman – so we have many more weeks to grow and strengthen our discipline muscles!

Are you taking the challenge to work with eager hands this week?  Leave a comment letting me know your commitment and if you are a blogger, write about this challenge or the past 4 week’s challenges and link-up below!

Walk with the King,

If you want to revisit the first 3 weeks of this series here are the links:

Week 1, the Discipline of the Body.
Week 2, the Discipline of our Time.
Week 3, the Discipline of our Spirit.

How are you doing with the challenges?  Update us in the comment section – this is your accountability!  On weight loss I’m around 3 pounds…on time management…I’m feverishly writing lists and on Spirit - I consistently (but not perfectly) gave the first minute of everyday to being in God’s word last week.

Now we are to week 4 – Disciplining Our Mind!

Do you feel like you have a lot of brain clutter?  On days when I’m overwhelmed, I feel like I’m losing it!  There’s a lot of noise in our world – voices come at us from facebook, twitter, television, cell phones, our family, political figures, spiritual leaders, and inner noise of our own muddled thinking.

Relational issues, spiritual issues, time management issues, financial issues and weight issues all take up space in our brain and can cause brain clutter.  This noise in our heads can cause us to lose the peace of mind that God wants for us.  Sometimes it’s because we are too busy, over committed, or own way too much stuff.  Other times it’s because we have a past that haunts us, a spouse who is difficult or a child who consumes our mind with concern.  And many times it’s because we are lacking in prayer.

Philippians 4:6,7, says: Do not be anxious about anything,   but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.   ⁷ And the peace of God,   which transcends all understanding,   will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This post will only scratch the surface of a very broad topic of discipline of the mind. I could take this in many many directions but for the purposes of this week’s challenge - we will keep it simple since simplicity is something very lacking in our culture!

Elizabeth Elliot writes: “A simple and orderly life represents a clean and orderly mind.  Muddled thinking inevitably results in muddled living.  A house that is cluttered is usually lived in by people whose minds are also cluttered, who need to simplify their lives.  This begins with simplifying and clarifying their thinking.  Mind and life need to be freed from the “disorder of the unnecessary.”

There is a lot of wisdom packed into this little quote, so let’s break down this quote and apply it to our own lives.


“A simple and orderly life represents a clean and orderly mind.”

Would you say you are leading a SIMPLE and orderly life?  The reality is  – life in 2012 is extremely complex.  We own more things and have more food, church and career choices than any generation before us.  We have more voices speaking into our lives through computer technology than ever before.  Life is complex…and it’s affecting our ability to think clearly.

“Muddled thinking inevitably results in muddled living.”

Because our thinking has become muddled by so much information – our living has become muddled.   If we are not filtering all of the information we read through God’s word – we will lack the peace of God that will guard our hearts and minds that Philippians 4:7 speaks of.

“A house that is cluttered is usually lived in by people whose minds are also cluttered, who need to simplify their lives.” 

Look around your house  – would you say it’s simple or cluttered?  Elizabeth suggests that a house that is cluttered usually (there are exceptions to this) is lived in by people whose minds are cluttered.  So if you are not the exception and you live in a cluttered house – the solution to get some clear thinking back is to declutter.  But how and where do we begin?

 “This begins with simplifying and clarifying their thinking.” 

Recently I cleaned through our stacks of bins on tall shelves that I keep in our garage.   As I pulled down the bins and took a peak inside I was mortified at the junk I was keeping!  I had old Elmo party decorations that I used for my son’s second birthday and I thought I might use them again – so I was storing them…my son is 9!  I had decorations I bought the first year of our marriage stored in case I might want to use them again someday…you know – in case I change our color scheme!  We’ve been married 14 years!  I had old college newspapers…why?  I don’t know why? I guess at the time I couldn’t part with them!  Clearly I’m going to end up on the show “Hoarders” if I don’t start getting rid of these things! lol!

  “Mind and life need to be freed from the “disorder of the unnecessary.”

And there’s our challenge!

Week  4′s Challenge:
Prayfully identify one unnecessary thing you can eliminate from your life.  Is there a room, cupboard or closet you need to clean out?  Clean it out this week!  If clutter is not an issue for you - maybe it’s your calender.  Is it so jam packed full with to-do’s that there’s no room for you to think and pray clearly?  Prayfully eliminate something from your calender.  Are you spending too much time on your computer, ipad or watching too much television?  Choose to limit your time this week – in exchange for some quiet moments of reflection, being in God’s word, praying or reading a mind enriching book.

 Be brave and throw out anything in your house you have not used or worn in over a year.  Be brave and limit your children’s activities that require the family to be on the run 24/7.  Be brave and quit saying “yes” to every opportunity that comes your way!  (I just sent an email this morning to the 3rd media company this year that would like to do a television interview.  I didn’t even bother to hear their pitch – I simply said – “my plate is full” because it is and there is no way it could be God’s will for me to give any more time to my on-line ministry during this season of my children’s lives – no matter how inviting the offer.)

You know the saying “If the devil can’t make you bad – he’ll make you busy.” Let’s not be the ones caught in that trap!!!

What one unnecessary thing are you going to eliminate from your life this week?  Leave a comment letting me know your commitment and if you are a blogger, write about this challenge or the past 3 week’s challenges and link-up below!

Walk with the King,