The leading candidate for the 2024 Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States recently declined an invitation to participate in a televised debate with the other candidates. When asked to explain his declension, the leading candidate tartly replied “it’s not a question of courage. It’s a question of intelligence.”

Although I have an extraordinarily low political view of this candidate, I gave him high marks for that response. Given his commanding lead in the polls, the fact that the election is more than a year from now, and the uninspiring nature of his current opposition, participating in that debate would have provided him with zero benefits. It would have been unnecessary work. So he decided to skip it. Underneath his decision there lies a profound philosophy: it is far better to work smart than hard.

How I wish more of us would learn that lesson! It’s a lesson that took me YEARS to learn. From an early age, I was taught to work hard. Laziness was simply not tolerated by either of my parents or in our extended families. Even during summer vacations, we had to complete our chores and our homework before we could go outside and play! One summer, my brothers and I were required to read the biographies of several famous African Americans, including Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and Frederick Douglass. An incident that I read which occurred in the life of Booker T. Washington (who would later become the first President of Tuskegee University) struck a deep cord in me. Washington was an ex-slave who showed up one day at the door of what is now Hampton University begging to be admitted. His admissions exam was to clean the room that he had walked in. After thoroughly cleaning the room for hours, it was carefully inspected, and he was admitted. The lesson was clear: work hard, and you will succeed. The idea of working hard even meets us in the scripture. Proverbs 14:23 says “In all labor there is profit”

And the scripture is true. But it is also only one verse out of the 31,373 verses that comprise the King James version of the Bible. The scripture also says in Psalms 127:1 “unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.” You can work as hard and as long as you are able, and still not achieve success. Unfortunately, working smart is one of the most neglected variables in most of our equations of success.

But it is a recurring variable that we see diffused throughout the scriptures. One of the best examples is the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob. They were twins, but having the same parents is about all they had in common. As the eldest, Esau was designated to inherit both his fathers’ property and the promises that had been given to his grandfather by God. But the scripture tells us that Esau did not value his birthright, and sold it to his brother.

Last week while rereading this story, I noticed a detail that had previously escaped my attention. On the day that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, Genesis 25:29 says that Esau was “exhausted” and “hungry” because he had been hunting all day. If Esau was “exhausted” and “hungry” from hunting all day, that means that he must not have caught anything, or if he did, was too tired to cook it. In either case, he had worked hard, and still had nothing to show for it. Moreover, Esau was a skilled hunter. But even skilled hunters fail. His exhaustion led him to the fateful decision to sell his birthright, a decision that would he would regret for the rest of his life.

Nothing good comes from exhaustion. Only bad decisions, ruined relationships, and aborted dreams. Working hard was not Esau’s problem. Not working smart was. Had Esau been smart, he would have kept the birthright. The birthright conferred the incalculable calculus of divine protection and provision. That’s why Jacob wanted to buy it! What could be more intelligent than wanting God on your side? Psalms 14:1 says “the fool says there is no God.” Not wanting God on your side, guiding your decisions, and involved in your affairs is the height of folly.

Dr. Brene Brown has written that far too many of us wear our exhaustion as a badge of honor. We brag about how busy, tired, and overwhelmed we are. But as busy, tired, and overwhelmed as you may currently be, is there any evidence that any of your efforts have brought you closer to your promised land? If not, perhaps you should change your strategy. No amount of skill can compete with God’s grace, power, or favor

Stop working harder.

Start working smarter.

And the best way to start working smarter is to involve God in your plans. Better yet, get involved in God’s plans! A friend of mine says that God always pays for what he orders!