THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE SUPPLIER

Nineteenth century American industrialist Andrew Carnegie not only made a fortune,
he gave much of it away, and he credited his success to insight and hard work. “The
average person puts only 25 percent of his energy and ability into his work. The
world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50 percent of their capacity,
and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100 percent.”
When asked the nature of his success, the co-founder of Holiday Inns, Kemmons Wilson,
wryly noted, “I make it a point to put in a good half day of work every day. Sometimes
it’s the first twelve hours, sometimes it’s the second.” Movie producer Samuel Goldwyn
was fond of saying, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Thomas Edison poetically
explained the importance of hard work this way: “His genius he was quite content in
one brief sentence to define: Of inspiration one percent, of perspiration, ninety-nine.”

Hard work does help define the most successful among us. Comedian Mike Myers has wisely
suggested that the single greatest difference between him and his funnier friends was
his unwillingness to quit. He stayed the course, developing material long after his
friends had given up comedy for something else. What we often forget, though, is the
set of contributions made by the Master Architect in each of our lives. An industrious
farmer understands the relationship between hard work and God’s provision all too well.
In Psalm 65, David stated it clearly: “You visit the earth and water it, make it
abundantly fertile. God’s stream is filled with water; with it you supply the world
with grain. With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts.” And,
in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminded us that God’s blessing extends to those
who acknowledge him as God, but also to those who choose not t “He makes his sun
rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”

A good mind is a gift from God. So are two good hands. So is vision. And so is the
blessing of having been born at a time and in a place that not only rewards hard work
but provides ample opportunity to pursue innumerable possibilities for success of all
kinds. Sure, success—and that includes financial success—comes to those willing to work
for it. God, though, is the one who opens doors, for he is the one who designed the
original templates, created the initial blueprints, and formed the building blocks of
all that is. The wise recognize his contributions and are suitably humble. The work
of the Lord is all-encompassing and always a blessing to those who acknowledge him.

From "Stewardship Today," Diocese of Baton Rouge