The Grind
Since I retired, I have been focusing on projects the Holy Spirit has placed in my heart. My husband retired before me and has been excitedly waiting for my retirement! He is an extravert - he’s very social and loves to do fun things. When he wakes up in the morning he is always excited about what we are going to do that day. He starts making plans and suggesting all these fun activities. For about a year I had been trying to balance my work projects and spending time with him enjoying our retirement. The main problem I encountered was not getting the results I wanted on my projects.
I was talking to God about how I can get these projects completed. Note to you: when asking God for direction, don’t think you’ll always like His answer. God always has a unique way of answering our questions, but He always makes sure we understand what He has said.
My husband and I were watching a Netflix documentary on retired record executive, producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer Berry Gordy, of which I knew very little about. There was an ongoing theme throughout the entire documentary about the number of hours he put into a project. His most productive time was in the wee hours of the morning.
In that moment I felt the Holy Spirit say, “The assignment I give requires sacrifice and grinding.” I knew that meant a change in my schedule. I started to think about ways to grind and what sacrifices I needed to make. The conclusion: sleep was the necessary sacrifice. I changed the time I started my morning to have time to work on projects. It is actually quite peaceful waking up earlier, when your mind is clear enough to hear the Holy Spirit lead you.
There was one other thing that caught my attention in the documentary. Berry said that he took one of his proposals to Quincy Jones. He wanted Quincy’s direction and advice. When he gave the project to him, he told him not to listen to track four and seven because they are not that good. Quincy looked at him and said, “Does this have your name on it? Is this how you want to represent yourself?” In that moment Berry said it forever changed the way he worked. Everything he did after that had to be excellent!
My girlfriend has this saying: excellent or nothing. Whatever she puts out has to be excellent or it is not delivered. God requires us to grind and to give our best. He gave us His best and what He has placed inside of us is excellent. He wants nothing less in return.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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