It is the quiet, persistent, unseen work that matters.
Returning from exile, Israel needed a place to worship. They wanted to commune with God. It was time to rebuild the temple.
It would take them 20 years.
After starting the work, they grew weary. Perhaps it was boredom, lack of inspiration, or laziness; whatever the reason, the work halted. Then Zechariah spoke;
"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin." — Zechariah 4:10
Small things matter.
"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." — Mother Teresa
God never despises small things. The most important things God is doing today are unseen, unknown, and usually unappreciated! All the good in our lives will come from the slow, patient work of temple building. Brick by brick. Stone by stone. The quiet, persistent, unseen work.
Milestones are important, but it is the moments that matter. Consider how you use the spare moments and minutes of your days. 15 Minutes a day is…
105 Minutes a Week.
450 Minutes a Month.
90 hours a Year.
How many of you would like to read the Bible for 90 hours this year [the average reader can read the Bible in 70 hours]?
How many of you would like to pray for 90 hours this year? Most of us feel like we can't pray for an hour.
15 minutes a day, patiently, brick by brick, would make it possible. It feels like nothing in the moment but it's significant over time..
So, why don't most of us live like this?
"Productivity is a trap. Becoming more efficient just makes you more rushed, and trying to clear the decks simply makes them fill up again faster. Nobody in the history of humanity has ever achieved 'work-life balance,' whatever that might be, and you certainly won't get there by copying the 'six things successful people do before 7:00 a.m.'
Because it's an uphill climb and most bring a downhill effort. Like a Chinese firework; short fuse, big bang, and then… nothing.
It's hard to be patient and persistent—to play the long game—to labor in the quiet and the dark. It is hard to build from the bottom up in a top-down world. In the cult of immediate, efficiency is currency, and shortcuts are king. Right now is forever, and tomorrow is too late.
Think about the lottery, for example. When you win the lottery, you have two options: take a lesser sum of money all at once or a larger sum in the form of an annuity paid out over 30 years.
99% of winners take the one-time lesser sum. Of the last 100+ Powerball winners, only one took the annuity.
We have no problem sacrificing the future on the alter of now. This is why shortcuts are a billion-dollar industry and life-hacking is the largest religion in the West. We think we can hack everything. Hack our health, hack our careers, hack our relationships, hack our faith.
But, as my friend Jon Tyson once said, "You can't hack your way to a beautiful life."
The wilderness.
Satan attacked Jesus when He [Jesus] was weakest—in the wilderness after fasting for 40 days. And notice his point of attack. Satan offered Jesus everything God had already promised Him. Only Satan offered a shortcut.
Most of the sin in your life, in my life, is not outrageous, atrocious sin. It is simply taking a shortcut to something God has already promised me.
When I resort to shortcuts, I risk inevitable failure and leave behind a legacy of crumbs, a heritage of unfinished business and broken promises. God doesn't want me to hack my walk with Him. My friends don't want hacked relationships. My kids don't want hacked parenting. My wife doesn't want a hacked marriage. A beautiful life is cultivated daily, brick by brick, building that which is meaningful and valuable over time.
Radical incrementalism.
"The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short. But that isn't a reason for unremitting despair, or for living in an anxiety-fueled panic about making the most of your limited time. It's a cause for relief. You get to give up on something that was always impossible—the quest to become the optimized, infinitely capable, emotionally invincible, fully independent person you're officially supposed to be. Then you get to roll up your sleeves and start work on what's gloriously possible instead." ― Oliver Burkeman,
I often get asked how I produce so much content. I've been accused of everything from plagiarism to exploiting ChatGPT.
The truth is, I write, brick by brick—every day. I keep a notebook, full of thoughts, quotes, and ideas that come my way. And every night, I write 500 words. Without fail. Every night, 500 words. 3500 words a week. 182,000 words every year [the equivalent of three books yearly].
When writing my doctoral dissertation, my plan was simple: write one page daily. 165 days later, I had a 165-page dissertation. Most people finish their doctoral work but never finish their dissertation. I finished mine in 165 days.
I was committed to doing the least I could while still progressing. Not doing the most, but doing the least while still moving forward. It’s what Tyson calls radical incrementalism. It is learning to slow down [maybe push pause] long before you are overwhelmed. It is avoiding exhaustion. It is never getting to the point that your actions are unsustainable. It's about consistency, not intensity. It's the focus of another brick in the wall.
Consistency, not intensity.
"I want you to know in your bones that your only path to success is through a continuum of mundane, unsexy, unexciting, and sometimes difficult daily disciplines compounded over time." — Darren Hardy
Brothers, a 40-day fast and scripture binge is not sustainable and, consequently, can draw you away from God. You are much more likely to draw closer to God by reading a small section of scripture and praying for a few minutes every day.
I have men reach out to me, wanting to read the Bible in a year. "How often do you read now," I ask.
"I don't," they reply.
Then don't read the Bible in a year. You won't. This is why Genesis 1-12 are the most read chapters in the history of history. You get to chapter 12, it gets weird, and you bail.
Start by reading 5 minutes a day. Then work your way up to 10. Then 15. Sooner than later, you'll be reading the Bible every year. But it takes time. It takes consistency, not intensity.
It's the same in your work. Dunks don't win games. Defense and free throws do. I see so many young professionals, rookies, lottery picks even, acting like franchise players.
“We sitting in here — I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice…”
It's the same with your marriage. A night of intense sexual connection will not negate weeks of emotional disconnection. As a matter of fact, emotional [and spiritual] disconnection usually leads to physical rejection.
It is the same with your kids. You will have a way better relationship with your kids if you play 20 minutes a day with them rather than thinking you can fix the relational gap with a trip to Disney. A 3-day Disney intensive does not compensate for 60-hour work weeks.
Consistency is greater than intensity.
And brothers, I get it. Life gets crazy. Consistency is easier said than done. But it's worth it. Your days will compound. The beauty, depth, meaning, and joy in your life will compound.
Twenty years later, Israel had a temple. The mundane, unsexy, unexciting, and difficult discipline of laying brick after brick, began to compound. And, after a while, they had a place, their place, to worship and commune with God.
Let's get to building. One brick at a time.
Chris Harper tells the greatest stories and heads up BetterMan. This post originally appeared on his blog, Good Trouble.
