For the Lord.

It's freeing to remember who our boss is. 

Because if you're anything like me, you wrestle with a perpetual desire to please. This desire for approval, often insatiable and dangerously all-consuming, rears its ugly head in nearly all of my relationships and endeavors. And it does so quickly and quietly and mostly subconsciously.

But lately I remember:

Work willingly at whatever you do as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

I often associate this command with a call to motivate and persevere, a call to avoid apathy.

More recently, it's been about God freeing me from myself.  My results-obsessed, competitive, and achievement-driven self. The self that wants to please and exceed others' expectations. The self that is never satisfied with the results. The self that is convinced perfection is attainable. The self that always could have done better. The self that is worn slick from these lies.

Two things I know: We work unto the Lord. And our Lord's yoke is easy and burden light.

If what we do, if who we are, is genuinely for the Lord, the efforts that flow from a heart attuned to God must be sufficient. If this is true, it is the ultimate vindication because our pursuit of God, and not whether we perform or obtain approval of others, is what we can control. We need not live life exasperated by our failure to please or obsessed with our success at it. This is particularly so in light of the fact that we've already pleased God because Christ stands in our place.

In sum, working for God not only motivates, but liberates. 

God is freeing me from this approval addiction, and I pray that's true for you.

"Work willingly at whatever you do as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." (Colossians 3:23 NLT).

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30 NIV).

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade." (1 Peter 1:3-4 NIV).

I have a serious, serious case of the Octobers. 

Much love to you,

Paige

Higher, deeper, longer, wider.

I'm so relieved to remember God is not limited by our limitations.

Why is this good news?

Because we live with a laundry list of limitations.

Limitations you put on yourself.

Limitations you put on God.

Limitations you were born into.

Limitations you later developed.

Limitations related to your physical, emotional, or mental state.

Limitations on time.

Limitations on talent.

Limitations from your spouse.

Limitations from your bank account.

Limitations from your boss.

Just to name a few.

I've recently felt the weight of my own limitations--the weight that these limitations could foreclose God's plan. My thinking goes like this: If X can't/won't/doesn't happen, then how will God's plan unfold because I know X is necessary for God's plan? 

This is dangerous thinking.

When I frame it that way, I'm actually inviting three nearsighted results: an act of rebellion*, bitterness, or apathy.

It does not take a specific, preordained set of circumstances to enable God's plan.  Put another way: a limitation precluding a specific set of circumstances cannot prevent God's plan.  

God's mysteries are higher than the heavens above, deeper than the depths below, longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

God is the most creative Being to ever be. The onus was never on us to accomplish His plan. The idea is quite laughable, really. The God who creates and sustains us is surely great enough to work within the parameters we experience, and great enough to exceed or even shatter them.

At this point in my life, I'm experiencing some palpable limits. And I refuse to be surprised when God works them for His glory. So here I remain: living with boundaries I trust our great God to use and exceed. 

[*sidenote* I'm not proposing an act of rebellion can never be part of God's plan; it certainly can be, particularly when the alternative means compromising Christ. But our small thinking should not mandate this result every time--whether God's best or not.]

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea." (Job 11:7-9 NIV).

chug-a-lug to you.

Much love to you,

Paige

The danger of a God that's too big.

What is just as dangerous as making God too small?


Making God too big.


We often emphasize the problem of making God smaller than we should. But what about when we perceive God as too great for life's boring or trivial problems? The problems that worm their way into our day-to-day routine and make themselves at home there. They're not seasonal and debilitating, yet they're equally threatening to our pursuit of Christ. They center on the minutiae of life, so we self-manage or quickly dismiss them, ultimately considering them unworthy of prayer or God's attention.


I would say we're selling the work of our God short, but in this case we're selling it harmfully long. It's an awkward, if not impossible, concept to say the least: God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-present. God will always be bigger than we can imagine. And this is likely what makes this specific limitation particularly dangerous; we never realized this limitation even existed. At least this is true for me.


(In reality we can't make God anything--whether big or small. In this instance, I'm not referring to God's qualities, which are unchanging and wholly independent of our response. I'm instead referring to how we perceive and limit God's work in our lives.)


I'm afraid I've incorrectly perceived God as too big to be personal or concerned with the details of my life. Maybe you relate. So let me remind you: God is just as much a God of the micro as a God of the macro.


We serve a Savior who daily bears our burdens.


We worship the Lord who demonstrated mindfulness and care toward us when He made us rulers over the work of His hands.


We pursue the God who commands us to cast all our cares on Him regardless of degree.


Right now, God is exposing and freeing me of limits on my faith. I pray this is true for you.

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."  (Psalm 68:19 NIV).


"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them  rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet." (Psalm 8:3-6 NIV).


"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7 NIV).

My current obsession. Who doesn't love a blonde? ;)

Much love to you,

Paige