Writers 
Work: The Master Key
A young man peering into the unexpected room could dream forever about restoring the house, but his dream would become reality only if he channeled his excitement and vision into drawing blueprints and doing the work of rebuilding. In a similar manner, the apostle Paul could not have reached the non-Jewish world with the gospel of Jesus Christ if he had only rejoiced in his new relationship with God, learned to live by faith, surveyed his resources, and sought a healthy environment in which to live. Paul had to work to release his potential and to achieve his purpose.
Dreams without work accomplish nothing.
The New Testament is filled with stories of Paul’s efforts to share God’s gift of salvation with those who had not heard the gospel. (particularly Acts 13–20.) When one door closed, he looked for another. When his traveling companions interfered with his plans, he parted company with them and looked for others who could share his vision. Not even riots, beatings, and imprisonments prevented him from continually seeking ways to share the good news of Jesus. Again and again, Paul worked hard fighting discouragement, misunderstandings, and distrust to fulfill his commission from God.
You also need to work. The love of work is the secret to personal progress, productivity, and fulfillment because work encourages the release of potential, and potential is the abundance of talents, abilities, and capabilities given to every person. When you refuse to work, you deny yourself the opportunity to fulfill your potential and your purpose, and you forfeit the productivity that could have blessed yourself and others. Therefore, you steal from the world. The greatest safeguard against this theft is both to understand the purpose and the nature of work, and to live from that knowledge.
Most of us are not interested in discovering what we can accomplish when we go to our jobs. We go to work only because we want a paycheck. This view of work is contrary to God’s purpose for giving work. He is more concerned with our use or abuse of the skills and talents He gave us than He is with our financial wealth or poverty. He wants us to be good workers, not good job keepers. This change in attitude requires that we begin to see work as a blessing, not a punishment.
Work as God planned it was given to man before he sinned. It is His tool to make us productive and fruitful. Because God’s assignments and activities always involve work, He designed men and women to share in His creativity by giving them the opportunity to work. Even as God worked through His spoken word to make the unobservable visible, so too we must work to reveal the invisible possibilities that exist in us. Although the conditions of work changed after sin becoming painful and requiring great effort, the purpose of work did not. Work is not a result of sin.
In essence, work is God’s gift to help people discover their potential. Until you start working to discover what you yet can be, you will miss the blessings inherent in work. This is true because work profits the worker by
• providing for physical needs,
• building self-esteem,
• teaching that the discovery and use of talents, skills, and abilities is far more important than the acquisition of money,
• developing an attitude that sees a challenge as a cause for rejoicing because it holds the possibility for success,
• offering the opportunity to transform dreams into reality,
• multiplying resources, and,
• revealing the potential that is yet to be exposed, tapped, released, and employed,
• Work also blesses others as we give generously of what we have and who we are.
Work is God’s gift to help you discover your potential.