{"id":474,"date":"2023-05-10T16:53:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T23:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandilangston.com\/?p=474"},"modified":"2024-07-25T15:03:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T22:03:08","slug":"striving-equals-straw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandilangston.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/10\/striving-equals-straw\/","title":{"rendered":"Striving is Straw"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

If we are striving in our own strength to do something for God, we’ve got it wrong. Let us cultivate restfulness and wait on God instead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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When I am old, I want to be one of those ladies with a bright face and a beautiful garden. They are likely to offer you a cup of tea in fine China and homemade shortbread somewhere amongst the flowers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Okay, the flowers would be lovely, but what I really aspire to is the presence, the peace, the restfulness, and unhurriedness of these ladies. They are so not striving. The world can carry on in a frenzy around them, but even when they hear bad news, they are not perturbed; they just take it to God in prayer as naturally as one would turn to talk with a friend.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For this blogpost I am defining strive<\/em> in a negative way: to vigorously exert human effort or strength (as opposed to God\u2019s). I am not suggesting that we don\u2019t need to work hard. Just ask Noah or any one of those ladies who over the years have tended their gardens, raised their families, hosted numerous guests, and prayed through some nights. Working hard is not the same as striving.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Writer experiences<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As a writer I\u2019m supposed to post on social media more regularly than I do. But I don\u2019t want to post for the sake of posting. I want to post messages and reminders that will be truly encouraging, and that are birthed from a place of rest and intimacy with God, not from a place of striving. I\u2019d rather post a few valuable nuggets than lots of mediocre ramblings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019ve set a deadline for myself to blog every two weeks. But life happens and that deadline becomes a distant dream when I\u2019m in bed with the flu and too sick even to write. That was this past week. I could have strived. I could have punched something out, but I waited. And then this is what the Lord highlighted this morning, and here it is not too many hours later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We can try all we like to make something happen \u2013 a promotion, a favourable relationship, a creative work of art. When we work with God, that\u2019s when the things we do have life and they are truly valuable. When we work in God\u2019s strength, the work may be much but is not heavy, for Jesus promised that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Straw<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthian church to be careful how they build. The same could be said to us today:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cIf anyone builds on this foundation [Jesus Christ] using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,<\/em>\u00a0their work will be shown for what it is,\u00a0because the Day\u00a0will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person\u2019s work.\u00a0If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.\u00a0If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved\u2014even though only as one escaping through the flames,\u201d <\/em>(1 Corinthians 3:12-15).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I hope to build with gold, silver, and costly stones. But here’s one slam dunk: If we are striving, we are building with straw. So let’s stop striving!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Dominican friar, left his life\u2019s greatest work incomplete after stating, \u201cAll that I have written seems like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me.\u201d He was not retracting what he had written, but rather he had had a magnificent revelation that surpassed everything he had known.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If one of the most highly esteemed theologians in history can say of his best work that it seemed as straw, how much more pitiful are our own attempts to hurriedly assemble something just for the sake of making it happen or getting it done?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Cultivating restfulness<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So, if we’re not supposed to be striving, what does cultivating restfulness look like? A few years ago I decided to start small on the gardening front. I planted several dahlias \u2013 that\u2019s all. But I took great delight in them all summer long, and now I know about dahlias! Last year I planted a pot of zinnias.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Perhaps cultivating restfulness is a little bit like learning to garden. We try one practice for a while, then try another. Here are a few practices I am learning by trying in this season.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n