When Strivings CeaseSample

We all live between two worlds. We are planted here on earth while our hope is in heaven. We are given work to do in temporary soil that, we’re told, has the potential to spring up into unending fruit. We live in earthly bodies but abide in the eternal. In Christ, we are instantly transferred from dark to light, but we are continually being made new. Present progressive. It’s ongoing and actively happening right now. Everything that is ours in Christ is true right now but, at the same time, not fully realized—yet. We are living the now and not yet. And in this in between, we can mistake not yet for not enough if we’re not grounded in what the Bible actually says about God’s favor and how we receive it.

We’re not yet sinless, but his forgiveness is enough to make us clean.

We’re not yet with him face-to-face, but his presence is enough to sustain us.

We’re not yet fully transformed, but his glory is enough to declare us worthy.

Instead of deeply rooting ourselves within the substance of God’s grace, we keep trying to fit grace into the framework of our own soil for success—a framework that feeds on our innate pressure to perform and seeks to sustain a standard that disappoints no one. 

That’s why we’re so tired. That’s why we keep hustling. That’s why we never feel like we’re enough. We’re working so hard to bloom, to bend, to please that we’ve neglected the soil from which we flourish.

I’m convinced we live and act out of what we believe, meaning that what we love most, believe wholeheartedly, and feel most convinced of will dictate the choices we make, the things we prioritize, the fears that consume us, and how we orient our lives.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for transforming me through your grace. Please help me accept your love and grace and let it flow out of me as I go through my day. Amen.