The Diligent Man

Reward Today

Every trickle of sweat
Every toil of your hands
For all your diligence
I have seen;

For every extra given
Yet denied the full wages
But overlooked and scorned
I know the details;

And so I let you know
Your trust in Me touches My Heart
Your faith in Me instigates me
I have not forgotten you;

And so I promise you
Surely today will not pass you by
Before your receive your reward
So long due you.

The Inspiration
I had spent one hour waiting. Waiting in the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (mma2). I was tired of gazing at the beauty and splendor of the building. Indeed it is a sight to behold after being used to seeing the regular stuff in our dear country. It is a building that meets standard. From the seats, to the elevator, to the glasses to the machines, everything was done with standard in mind. For once I felt truly proud to be a Nigerian. Even the oyibos were looking around the airport. Okay, enough about the building. I had been standing for over an hour waiting for my ticket. That meant it was time to get impatient, which is not a fruit of the spirit. Then I remembered one good tip: when you are filled with impatience, take time out to acknowledge the goodness of God around you. By the time you are done (if you can be) the time you feel is wasting would have passed by fruitfully.

I decided to observe my surrounding. My eyes caught a young staff of aero contractors. He was in charge of directing people towards the appropriate counter to check in. I noticed he was always attending to one customer at a time. This made everything orderly. At first I thought he was being extra nice because he wanted something from them. But as more people came, the more I noticed his skill in organizing people. You see, most times when we have to deal with a service provider, we feel that person has only us to attend to. It’s good to look at this from a third person point of view. You will realize that service providers are human beings like us, have personalities, get tired, have personal issues and have the right to get upset. Maybe having this at the back of our minds will help us not to scream Mt Kilimanjaro down when a service provider says he cannot attend to us because he has something pressing to do.

Enough of the digression. My dear “subject of discussion” went about his duty diligently. The hand of the diligent make rich [Proverbs 10:4]. The substance of the diligent man is precious [Proverbs 12:27]. Have you seen a man diligent in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before mean men [Proverbs 22:29]. That is the fruit of diligence. Me, a mere spectator, I was amazed. I know it is not easy to organize people. But he did it efficiently and effectively. What was more interesting was he had this smile on his face as he spoke to every one, big man and small man alike. That was when I realized he was genuine in what he was doing. Another interesting thing I noted is that the work he was doing was not the richest paying job. But he was happy. He enjoyed the interaction with people. I call him a good man.

What about you who has been diligent in your work? Do you think no one sees? The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and His ears open to their prayers [1 Peter 3:12]. The Lord sees. His eyes run to and fro the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him [2 Chronicles 16:9]. You may have been doing your thing and not getting the desired reward or breakthrough. But I just want to assure you that the Lord sees. Focus on the Lord in what you are doing. Do it for the glory of God [1 Corinthians 10:31]. Your reward and breakthrough is on the way.

Back to the story of the man I was observing. He went out of his way to ask a woman standing, “Madam, where are you going to? Port Harcourt or Calabar? Can I help you with your load?” To this the lady replied, “Don’t worry about me, I am a staff. And I have been watching you. I will recommend you.”

You never know when that turn of events will come. You never know how it will come. But as long as you are focused on Him, be sure it will come. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour [1 Corinthians 3:8].

Don’t lose hope, don’t relent. Keep up the good work and in everything you do, do it for His glory.

Have a blessed day.