We buy into the lie that we are only worth what we produce.
Without even realizing it, we live this out in our day to day existence.
We create, we produce, we make more. We share it with the world and then wait with expectation, hoping for acknowledgment, desiring someone to tell us they like what we do. Because if someone likes our work, then we matter.
Then we project that same thought process on our relationship with God, telling ourselves that each thing we do will make us better in His sight.
We keep striving, doing more, producing more – believing it will fulfill us and define our worth.
But instead of fulfillment, we are exhausted. Instead of worthy, we continue to feel like we fall short.
We’ve taken the lie that we are only worth what we produce and have made it our mantra. And it has left us tired and weary.
How do we fight back? What is the cure for the endless-effort life?
Do the opposite.
Whenever you feel the need rising up in you to have to prove your worth, or the voice in your head starts telling you that if you aren’t moving ahead then you’re falling behind – then fight the urge and do the opposite.
Do nothing. Rest. Set your work on the shelf. Do something that no one else can acknowledge or see or know. Take a nap. Journal. Go for a walk. Bake muffins and then sit on your porch and eat one warm.
Hebrews 4:9+10 (ESV) is a beautiful invitation to cease from the endless-effort life: So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
When we seek Christ as our Savior, then we can cease from the endless-effort life. We have nothing to prove and no worth to claim. Christ has sacrificed his life for ours and in Him we have our purpose and our worth.
Any work we do and any thing we create are just embellishments. They aren’t needed, but they are welcomed. They are beautiful works that can point back to Jesus.
We are invited into this Sabbath rest, not just on Sundays, but every day. We are invited to rest from our striving in life and instead rest and trust in God to give us our worth and fulfillment.
What part of your endless-effort life can you set aside for a life of Sabbath rest?
Are you also tired of the endless-effort life? Click for your free download – a guide to Quitting the Endless-Effort Life.
