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In the moments of chaos I need to serve God. In the moments of perfectly-executed plans I need to praise God. Each moment is a chance to serve God and it is better for us to strive to serve than to strive at all.
Striving for our own earthly desires.
I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:14
We strive, strive and strive. Putting our head down and we work, work and work. In our own efforts we grind, grind and we grind. Only while to complain, complain and complain. All for more of what someone else has – we circle back. Never satisfied. Striving for our own earthy successes and pleasures.
Serving for the glory of God.
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Psalm 37:3-6
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
We serve, serve and serve. Looking up (posturing our hearts to heaven) we work, work and work. In His strength we rejoice, rejoice and rejoice. All for something beyond ourselves. We circle back to Him, who started a good work in us and will finish a good work in us. Serving for Gods gift of eternity and joy in simply being His.
What’s more important is what we’re striving for.
The word “strive” is not a bad word as it means to “make efforts to achieve or obtain something”. However, the focus is about what we are striving for… our own good or for God’s good?
For example, I tend to over-think when I am planning. I overthink the negative and how I am going to plan around IF that occurs. It’s a type of striving to prevent myself from failure. Making efforts to achieve a good time! But, no plan is perfect and not everyday goes as predicted. So when the unexpected happens… how do I respond? I may easily crumble under the pressure and the overthinking becomes overwhelming as my plans fail.
Our greater purpose is hidden in serving God.
This is where I need to shift from striving for my own gain to serving for God’s glory. Yes, making plans and being prepared is a good thing! I still make plans and do the best with what I know I can control. However, when it fails, can the plans still be good? Yes, there are opportunities already made for us that we cannot control. Having the mind of Christ and perspective of serving God will help increase our awareness of Him in our days.
Our mandate as Christians is not based on what we have done on earth. Its about simply believing what Christ has already done! This is the starting hope we need to have each morning. So our efforts of living righteously is based upon our focus in Christ. This way our life is not vain and our striving efforts to serve God make an impact on the people around us.
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
Titus 2:7-10