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I read an article this morning and it resonated with my heart. One of the statements in the article says…
“Attempting to fulfill something God has promised but hasn’t yet released you into is not obedience, it is striving. Striving brings a weight, burden or heaviness that God hasn’t positioned you to carry.”
It goes on to talk about the difference between Abraham’s two sons…one was a human attempt to fulfil God’s promise and the other one was God’s own fulfillment of His promise.
One of my mentors recently challenged me to put my energies into the things that God has given me already and rest in the things that he has not. I have always struggled with feeling like I am not driven enough…that I do not “make moves” and “jockey for position”
What separates someone from being stagnant and complacent…as opposed to content and at peace. What is the balance between forward momentum and trying my hardest to make it happen at all costs.
I would argue that it is resting vs striving
I have found when I cultivate and steward the the things in my life that God has specifically given to me with much energy and focus…He produces fruit well beyond my abilities. I have chased after things that were just beyond my reach only to find that I squandered the opportunities that God had graciously put in my hands already.
One of the satisfying thing about resting in God’s promises is that when I arrive at a place that I have desired…I will have the assurance that I did not get there by my own striving. This produces a confident humility within me that serves me well in the midst of joys and trials.
And once I get “there”…wherever “there” is…I will only be able to look from a distance and go…”So this is purpose”…and then continue on…because if I try and grab hold of it and run…then I am back to striving.
Thanks be to God for His timing and His ways…they continually renew my strength and bring peace.
