Striving

I believe a little bit of reflection on life every once in awhile can be very healthy and beneficial for us...So, were gonna do it! I encourage you to take a moment and think about the things you strive for...be honest! For some it's providing needs for others such as kids or other family members. For others it's finding a good job or being successful in life. For others it's being happy. The fact is that we strive for several things in life.

What did Jesus say about striving? As far as the religious leaders in His day, He had a lot to say about striving. He called them hypocrites for having wrong motives in their hearts. They desired the praise of people. They craved the feeling that came from other people noticing them pray, fast, and do other outward spiritual activities. For them, they strived to be seen by people and had no inner character or integrity. I think we would all agree that we see this in our day. I'm not going to spend my time on this blog bashing the church in this area because I myself am one who struggles with it. I find myself in the middle of worship wondering if "so and so" is enjoying the worship. I ask myself questions like, "Should I stay on this song longer? What if they're tired?" and other ridiculous thoughts that clog my mind and stop me from entering into true worship. The fact is we all strive to be liked and enjoyed by others. We want to be accepted and we all go to different lengths for that to occur. Unfortunately sometimes the consequences are not worth the short pleasure it brings.

Jesus talked about how there is a place in God where we can be that no one else sees. There is a secret place - a history with God that only you and Him know about. It's a place so intimate in His heart about your life and He really delights in it. Think about the word intimate. Two people cannot be intimate with ten other people around (well, they CAN, but you get what I'm say'n!). God makes it clear He wants a relationship with us. And not just any relationship with us. He wants to be first - He wants us to love Him the most - and He goes so far as to say that He is crazilly jealous over all of us! Sounds like a lover to me!He wants intimacy with us! And that can only occur when we create a secret place, or space, where it's just us and God. When teaching on prayer, He said we should go into our closets and pray. In other words, go to a place where it's just us and God. The temptation to be noticed by men will not be there and a true pure motive is created that is a fresh cry of just wanting to be with God. I don't think He is looking at us angrily saying something like, "I expect you to be humble and never be honored...and besides that, I don't want anyone to ever notice anything good you do on the earth. And, you need to not have any friends - you just need to be with me!" No way! He said if we do things just to be accepted by men, that is the only reward we get! So, I see God as a really good daddy whose arms are full of rewards awaiting us. But, He can't give them unless we really see as He sees and realize that our true reward is in the secret place where it's just us and God. In this place we give money, time, etc and never have to tell a soul because we are doing it before Him. There is something about doing things in secret that the Father really notices. I dont understand it, but I know He is really pleased when we live our lives under the audience of one!

So when thinking about the issue of striving - let's really take a look at our lives...what is God calling us to strive for? Are our hearts living under His yoke that is easy and burden free? Are we experiencing His peace? If not, we may be striving for the wrong things and our priorities may be out of line. If so, don't beat yourself up - just realign your life so you can experience that love and peace you were created for! He's ready to give it to all of us if we just make room for Him. It's not striving to be perfect. It's making a space for God to show up in our life by doing things in secret. It may be setting aside time in the morning or night just to pray by yourself. It may be secretly giving extra money to a need that can benefit someone else. It can be as simple as sending a card to someone who is having a bad day. It's those little simple things that we can do in secret that move the heart of God. Something to think about also is the fact that when God helps you, He doesn't announce it to the world - how humble is that? The God of the universe reaches down from the balcony of heaven to help us and He does it quietly...He is calling us to do the same! Let honor come if it comes. But don't make it happen!