Hebrews 4: 11-13
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4: 14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Strive to enter rest…
Approach the throne of grace with confidence…
Such interesting words.
Striving and resting feel juxtaposed to me. When I am striving, I am working. I know this verb quite well. I am a striver, and achiever, a girl raised to be the hardest working by a long shot. That is what it means in my family to be a success.
I’ll rest when I die… a common phrase in the south. We are a bit prideful in our hard-working ways. And yet, there is a rest, as believers, that we are called to. MORE than whatever measure of success was held up as the ideal measuring stick.
When I am resting in a faithful way with Christ–I am leaned into Him. I’m trusting Him to be enough. I’m trusting His approval of me–even and maybe especially when I screw up.
I don’t have to be the best at anything…I’m called to be faithful to the gifts He has placed in me.
I don’t have to worry when someone doesn’t love me or approve of me…they are not my judge, God is. And Jesus has deemed me chosen and dearly loved, and He stands by me when judgement day comes and will say, She is mine.
I don’t have to retire with a certain amount of money in the bank or a particular kind of roof over my head–I trust God to be my home and my dwelling place (Psalm 84), and trust He will provide for all my needs.
When I am tempted to cringe because I don’t have a steady person to my right or my left–when my left ring finger feels empty and when I don’t have little ones I call my own to tuck in–I remember that my security is not in a nuclear family–It is in Jesus–and the family He has called me into.
When I am tempted to believe I need to do more, accomplish more, BE more and my outlet for that is in my work. But my work is fruitless in the way I expected it to be or lacking in some version or another–I am reminded that God is the one that multiplies–God is the One who makes things flourish. He is pleased with me when I am faithful with what He has given me. That’s a good days work.
He is where my rest, my approval, my value comes from. I get to rest, and lay aside my striving ways to trust Him to be the sufficient answer to my heart that seeks worth, lovability and success in a multitude of ways. He is the answer for that–He is the only one able to.
When it comes to my salvation–there is no working for that. I cannot attain salvation by any other means than Christ (John 14:6)–so resting in Him is to rest in the finished work of Christ for my eternal security.
This means, when I screw up and I mean screw up big–I do not have to cower in shame, I get to throw myself on the One who can and has completely covered that sin.
So being naked and exposed before a holy God is safe–because I stand next to Christ. And I do not stand condemned but wrapped in His loving embrace as One approved of by His blood.
This is my confidence
His embrace of me never falters.
His approval for me never wanes.
His covering of me is not lacking.
I am His and therefore I can stand with confidence.
Sincerely, Crystal 