In All Labor There is Profit

“In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.”

-Proverbs 14:23 AMP

Have you ever found yourself saying you were going to do something, and never do it? Or, when you do get to it, so much time has passed?

You promise yourself… “Today! I’m going to start “this!””

Today comes and goes. Tomorrow comes and goes. Sadly, sometimes a month…a year…years, come and go. And before you know it, it seems like you slipped more into being poverty, in many ways, because you haven’t taken any action.

This is what the scripture means when it says, “But mere talk leads only to poverty.” The word in the King James Version is penury.

Penury means; need, poverty, thing needed, lack, want.

Aren’t you tired of lacking…wanting…needing?

You may say you are but, you have to do something. Make a move. Decide.

What are you afraid of? Failure? How will you know if you will fail, unless you try? I know that’s sort of cliché but, how will you know? Sometimes, when we try things, we don’t stick with them long enough to see if they will work.

That was one of my main problems. I have started so many businesses but the main culprit for me was discouragement. If things didn’t “take off” when I expected it to, I’d get discouraged and then, I would give up on it. I’d move on to the next thing and repeat the same cycle. I heard someone say before, you should give yourself a year to see how “that thing” turns out. Now, I’m no expert on how long you should give yourself to see if something is worth holding on to but, I’ve stopped things after a week…a month…two months…

You definitely have to give yourself longer than that!

But this is why we also take it to the Lord in prayer. I know the Lord will guide us on the path He’s placed us on, but I also believe the Lord wants us to make the first move sometimes.

In Genesis 12:1, the Lord told Abraham, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”

From what I know about past, present, and future tense, to say to someone, I “will show you” means future tense. And to say, “Get out,” is present tense for “leave now.” So, the Lord gave Abraham instructions to “Leave now,” and “I will show you.”

Sometimes, the Lord will only give us the first set of instructions, and after we have obediently completed those instructions, he will give us the next step. The Lord knows us. I believe, He knows if He gives us all the steps, we probably will not do it.

Why? From fear, uncertainty, anxiousness, and all the above. The Lord wants to know if He can trust us with the first set of instructions.

Sometimes, it’s not that we don’t trust the Lord, as to why we don’t make the first move; it’s that we don’t trust ourselves. We don’t have confidence in ourselves and who we are in the Lord and who we say we are in the Lord.

Confidence.

The key word in confidence is confide. Confide means: to trust, confide in (someone), to entrust, rely on, believe in. The word stems from Latin confidere, meaning “to have full trust.” The prefix con means “completely” or “fully.” The root word fidere means “to trust” “rely upon” or “have faith.”

You don’t trust yourself. You don’t believe in yourself. You don’t have confidence in yourself.

Why?

We have been wired to think negatively. You ever notice how easy it is to say something negative before we say something positive? It’s like a child who is born into this cold world. So innocent. Still having the imagination and belief that, “I can do anything!” “I can be anything!” But, as they get older and the cruel world we live in begins to taint their view, and their heart, that “can do” attitude begins to turn sour. And now, the dreams we once had lay dormant. Worse case, those dreams and ambitions aren’t even sleeping; they are completely gone, covered by cement.

Let’s not forget the first part of that scripture: “In ALL labor there is profit…”

Do you know what that means? Whether it’s 5 minutes of labor a day, or 20 minutes. One day a week, or 5 days a week. One year, or 2 years…there is profit gained.

And I won’t go too deep into this because this is a whole different kind of teaching but, the word labor means: pain, hurt, toil, sorrow, hardship, work, effort.

In order to perform any kind of labor, it requires action.

So, in whatever you are laboring in, you are gaining something from it.

Do you know what you have to do to get nothing out of life?

NOTHING! Do absolutely nothing.

And the truth will remain that, if you do nothing, you will move backwards. If you do something, you will propel forward. You will gain something. You will profit something. In all labor, there is profit.

I encourage you to start dreaming again. Start desiring again. Start believing again. Stop worrying about what people have to say concerning your dreams, goals, and ambitions. The same people who are telling you that you can’t do something, or you’ll never achieve “that,” whatever the case may be, examine their life. Are they happy? Are they successful (in a good, Godly way)? Are they happily married? Are they bitter? Are they living their dreams? Do they even have dreams?

I encourage you to write down your dreams. Pray over your dreams. Think about why you stopped dreaming and desiring “that.” And ask yourself, is this still achievable? As long as you are alive, I say…IT IS!

“In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.”

-Proverbs 14:23 AMP