Hard Work Vs. God's Grace

Three years ago, I had my first official job as a Human Resource Coordinator in a start-up VA company. My initial role is recruitment, onboarding, and endless administration of paperwork. Due to these repetitive tasks, my co-workers perceive me and my skills through the bare surface of my responsibilities.

Not until my boss delegated me the task of employee training and development. Little did he know, that this assignment would unleash my true color (hehe). After weeks of preparation, we launched the company’s first-ever in-house training seminar entitled, Excellence At Work, inspired by the wisdom of Pastor Bong Saquing.

After delivering the keynote of the training, most of our employees (those who did not know me before and personally), commended my public speaking skills; saying they never thought of me being confident on stage, giving lessons, and inspiring the people.

I was deeply grateful for their accolades, yet at the same time, I secretly thought my co-workers did not know how much effort I put into the skills they admired. They are not aware that I have exerted an enormous amount of hard work since 2017 to hone my talent in public speaking, create opportunities, and achieve my goals.

Contrastingly, the similar thought I had led me to contemplate the reality of my achievement before God. Do the things I have a result of my hard work or God’s grace? Do I need to thank God or myself? Where do I draw the line between human effort and God’s favor?

In a culture driven by the mindset of autonomy (self-law), it becomes a norm to do the things we want whatever, whenever, wherever, and however, we want. With this philosophy in mind, individuals are governed by themselves, for themselves, and all about themselves; so it is not surprising to see the principle of the present generation wanting to credit every hard work and achievement to themselves.

Interestingly, since evolutionary atheism is one of the prevailing beliefs in our society, people do not believe that life has a noble purpose but only for survival. Having this mindset, every effort must be accredited to us because we gave our very best just to survive, and because everything in life is the material world, the thought of God and His grace will never be considered.

Another observation is the reality of life. We live in an imperfect and broken world; where pain, suffering, and injustice are inescapable. Because of this awareness and experience, it is indispensable for us to work hard to save ourselves, achieve our desired future, and fulfill a better life. And when we are making progress, we long for appreciation, a pat on the back, and a whisper of assurance that we are doing great.

With an overview that self-appreciation for our hard work is not a sin, the question remains, both for the Christian and skeptic, do the things we have the results of our hard work or God’s grace??

I believe everything is about the grace of God empowering us to work, but our hard work must be saturated by God’s grace.?

The Apostle Paul reconciled this issue by saying:

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10, NASB).

God, by His grace, saved Paul from being a persecutor of Christians to being His apostle. Paul knew he was the chief of all sinners, so after his conversion, he exerted all hard work than any of the followers of Christ; paradoxically, it is not his self-righteousness and effort that made him what he is, but by the grace of God that allows him to labor.

God’s grace saved us, not our works, and it is the same grace that will empower our salvation to result in good works. Then, when we work hard, it is not self-manufactured for self-aggrandizement; it is inspired by the reality of experiencing the grace of God. God’s grace will enable us to work but our work itself is a work of His grace.

One may object, that this truth may be inspiring and acceptable to Christians, but how about the skeptic??

Take heart, you are not outside of God’s grace; this verity is called Common Grace.

Common grace is God’s indiscriminate goodness and favor to ALL people. He has compassion on all He has made (Psalm 145:9); causes the sun to rise and send rain to the righteous and unrighteous (Mathew 5:45); is kind to the ungrateful and wicked (Luke 6:35); shows kindness by providing food and filling our hearts with joy (Acts 14:17); helping us perform good deeds to people (Romans 2:14-15); and giving undeserved favor in the areas we cannot control by hard work (Isaiah 24:24-29).

Dear skeptic friends, if we observe and think enough in our daily lives, there are realities we cannot control and cannot earn that happen for our benefit; like getting a job even if we are unqualified, getting home safely, having genuine friends, receiving unmerited opportunities, waking up every day, and opening our eyes.

These seemingly small acts of God’s grace is a proof that He loves you; no matter how you hate, mock, and run away from Him.?

With this truth, it seems beneficial to be under the grace of God despite being a skeptic, but being aware of God’s grace is different from accepting it, especially in correspondence to His justice.?

To fully understand God’s grace is to know His Son Jesus Christ; where He died on the cross fulfilling the justice of God towards the sin of humanity and revealing His love to offer grace and forgiveness to those who will believe.

After all, our utmost need is not self-assurance, but the salvation of our souls; to experience what the Apostle Paul preached; that God’s grace and His finished work coalesced in Jesus Christ, offering us a new life and new beginning, which our generation truly longs for.

When our relationship with God is restored, only then do we have the noblest adventure of our life; seeing how the majesty of God’s grace and our hard work weave together for our good and His glory.