The In-Between Place: A 7-Day Reading Plan With Kat ArmstrongSýnishorn

Stop Showing Up for Yourself; That’s Jesus’ Job

The “show up for yourself” trend fills memes galore, and the folks digesting this alluring form of self-help chug it like it’s the last drink they’ll ever have. Just be more attuned to your own needs, they say. Just put yourself first more often.. Our problem, they think, is that when it comes to our own lives, we’re not committed to our own success. 

Hear me: I get the need to balance the martyr syndrome that afflicts so many with a healthy dose of self-care. I do. But I feel so uncomfortable knowing that most people will read suggestions to “show up for yourself” and then feel the weight of doing life on their own.

I think that a generation of us are sick and tired, literally, of doing more, trying harder, and making self-help an idol when Jesus offers us just the help we need.

One of the ways Jesus changes our stories in our in-between places is not by telling us to get to work. Instead, Jesus shows up for us and dares us to trust him for our every need. Showing up for ourselves is helpful only as long as we recognize Jesus as the sustaining power in our lives. Jesus alone is our Living Water, the renewal resource that never runs dry.

Prayer:

Father, I’m tempted to work harder and try harder, but this in-between place has me so tired. I’m exhausted trying to help myself. I need you, my Living Water, to fill me up and carry me through my weariness. Help me to rely on you for all my needs. Amen.