Faith Over FearSýnishorn

I wonder how many workaholics, “control freaks,” and obsessively-driven individuals are running from a deep-rooted fear of insignificance. I wonder how many of us are silently afraid that one day, as we near the end of our time on earth, we’ll look back over all our years and see little more than busyness—a life spent pointlessly running from one task to the next with little of eternal value to show for it.

When our daughter was young, I stayed home and often felt insufficient and unseen. Though I believed in Christ and followed Him as best as I could, I didn’t know how to live in Him. I didn’t believe that He truly was enough and that I was enough in Him. When I looked around, everyone seemed so much more successful and important. Wanting to “measure up,” I strived to be the perfect mother and wife. If only I kept our house clean, cooked meals from scratch, and raised our daughter to become a well-adjusted, contributing adult, then I’d have value and significance. 

My standards were too subjective to soothe my aching heart. Worse, all my striving distanced me from my Savior, the only One with the power to define me and the authority to assign my purpose. And make no mistake, He does have a clear and glorious purpose for me—for you, as well. One that, when pursued, leads to abundant joy and peace. We will never truly feel complete until we do that which we were created to do. Though our God-assigned roles don’t define us or add to our intrinsic value as God’s beloved creation, they will fulfill us.

Most, if not all, of our longings, including our desire for significance, stem from some need—for security, love, purpose, etc.—God hard-wired within each human heart. Problems come whenever we attempt to fill those needs in our own wisdom and our own strength. This never works, at least, not for long, and we end up feeling discouraged, defeated, and many times, disillusioned. 

This often causes us to chase after that next accomplishment, then the next, as our fear of insignificance grows. We discover our gospel-centered purpose to know Christ and make Him known when we surrender all to Him and seek His will above all. Then, not only will we find the answers our hearts so desperately seek, but we’ll find ourselves: who we are and were meant to be. And that is a beautiful and deeply fulfilling way to live.

~Jennifer Slattery