Stop Trying So Hard

Just be. Sort of the opposite of the Nike slogan, Just Do It, right?

I think these two statements show the paradox between the life our culture calls us to live and the life that God calls us to live. Everything in America is based upon your performance. Your grades, whether you make the team, what chair you are in the orchestra, what role you get in the play, the job you have, your love life, your social status and so on.

So we take this approach with God. We try and perform for him. We try and work, in order to prove to him that we're worthy, that we deserve to be saved. We try to earn our spot on his team. Whether this comes from guilt, shame, insecurity, or an enormous amount of pride, I'm not sure. But it's pretty ironic.

We're the ones that screwed it up in the first place, so maybe we feel like we have to fix it. And most of us struggle with the fact that we can't fix it. If anything our trying to fix it makes the situation worse because we're missing the WHOLE POINT.

Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we could fix it. He didn't die on the cross so we could prove our worth to God.

He died because of our great worth to God. He died because he's the only one who could fix it.

Which brings us back to this: 'Just be'.

Be still and know that I am God. Stop trying so hard to prove your worth, I made you in my image, I know your worth. I sent my son to die in your place because of how much I love you. I did this so you don't have to. Stop fighting a battle that's already won. Just be with me. Come and rest. Learn to trust my goodness. I will not leave you or forsake you.

One of the greatest struggles we face as Christians in America is being still before God. Everything about our lives goes against this. We've got to unlearn our constant urgency. And that, I believe, will only be a function of our trust in God. Do we trust God enough to just be?