Striving, Rest and the Beginning of Summer

For a while now I've been signed up on the intercessor's list for Ransomed Heart Ministries. About once or twice a week John Eldredge sends out an e-mail letting those of us on the list know how we can be praying for the ministry and joining in the spiritual battles surrounding what they're doing. Occasionally he'll also add in a few other thoughts on life and what God has been showing him. The letter he sent out tonight had a paragraph I wanted to share with you:

I hope you are well. And that you are making plans to get some rest and beauty this summer. Don’t let the pace of life sweep you on, and suddenly it’s August and you realize, “Gosh, we were going to take some needed time for our hearts but now it feels too late to plan anything.” Fight for joy. (You will nearly always have to fight for joy).

This is something God has been speaking to me a lot on lately. Life is so fast. Too fast really. And the temptation to strive hits us from just about every angle.

We in the church have gotten pretty good at recognizing it in the secular world. We recognize the emptiness in making materialism our highest goal. We've seen the emptiness of lives devoted to nothing but career, or self gain, or any of the other ways we try and replace God. We get the tragedy of all that and that's good. I don't want to discount that. But at the same time we've completely missed that same attitude within the church and in ourselves.

Legalism is a part of it, but I don't think that nearly begins to cover the whole picture of what's gone wrong. In fact, it's blinded us to similar problems in our own lives. We look at Christians who've given into legalism (the ones who don't dance, play cards, or even think of drinking a drop of liquor) and we thank God we've avoided the trap.

But the problem's still there and it's different in every one of us. For some it's trying to learn enough facts and theology. For others its giving enough time and money, supporting enough good causes, volunteering enough hours. For still others it's a watered down version of legalism where we just try not to sin too much. The list goes on and on.

I'm not deriding any of that stuff. Those are good things. But where's God in the middle of it? I know He's given plenty of lip service but tacking is name onto that stuff is way different than inviting Him to be a part of it. So often those things become another way to strive, to build, to try to make our lives worthwhile, to earn our salvation.

Meanwhile Jesus is outside the empty tomb waiting for us to fall into His arms.

You see, it's not that any of that stuff is bad. It's just that when we're doing it in our own strength it gets really ugly, really fast. It becomes about what we do. Our salvation becomes based on works, not on the cross.

I believe before we can do any of that stuff, before we can really learn theology, help the needy, give our money, be transformed from our sin, before any of that we need to fall into the arms of Jesus and know the transforming power of His love.

Summer is a great time to give this a try. In our culture it's traditionally a time of rest. At some point this summer most of us will be going on a trip, hanging out with friends for a barbecue, or just spending time enjoying the beautiful weather while it lasts. But like Eldredge says, it can be gone in a flash. We can miss it just as easily through our "good works" as the rest of the world does through secular striving.

I believe God has more for us. Not just in summer but all year round. Spend some time in these next few months falling into His arms and being transformed by His love. There's nothing we can do to earn what He wants to do in our lives. It's impossible and we make a mess of trying. He wants more for you. Are you willing to get out of His way?