Cease Striving

… guest post by Jill Hart

Cease striving and know that I am God. (Ps 46:10 NASB)

I don’t know about you, but I feel an utter sense of relief when I read that verse.

Take a moment and just think about that first phrase for a moment.

Cease striving.

With all of the hats that we wear – wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, employee – we often find ourselves… striving.

~ Striving to keep up.

~ Striving to make our way.

~ Striving to climb the ladder of success, whatever that may look like for us.

And yet this verse says that we have no need to do any of those things.

You don’t need to do ANYTHING to be of worth.

In fact, the Bible goes so far as to say that all of our good deeds equal up to a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6). Not only do we not NEED to do anything to be of worth to God, the things that we do are like dirty rags in comparison to all that He has done for us.

So why bother, right?

As you think about this, you know the answer. We love others because of the love and forgiveness that God has given us.  We serve others as a way of expressing our pure gratitude to Christ.

The beauty of all this is that WE DON’T HAVE TO. 

You could not ever lift another finger and you would still matter to God.

You have value.

You are loved.

Just the way you are. Warts and all. In the middle of your mess. And your pain. And your anger. And your …. well, you get the idea.

No matter where you are in life, no matter what you’ve done, God values you. I am a living testament to that fact. I’ve got some ugliness in my past.

I thought there was no way that God could ever love me, could ever use me.

And yet He does.

And He will use you, too. Because He adores you.

Focus your heart on the Lord and allow Him to show you just how much you mean to Him.

Cease Striving and KNOW that He is God.