The world lavishes attention upon people who work hard to earn what they want in life. However, we often see that the empires they spend so many years building crumble and collapse, and they’re worse off than before. There’s nothing wrong with hard work, but only if the mindset behind it is on God. True success comes when we rest in Jesus while we work.

When we labor in our own works with fretful, anxious minds, we accomplish far less than if we rested in God’s grace and let Him do the work. Far too many people worry constantly because of the pressure to perform. We must remember that grace is available to everyone, and there’s no rest without it. His grace is sufficient, and it’s all we need.

Fear of the future is rampant. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and that causes stress for untold numbers of people. When we turn over all of our tomorrows to God and embrace an attitude of “I’ll do whatever He directs me to do,” we’re empowered for success. It’s not up to us to direct our own courses in life. 

God wants to work in us, through us, and for us. When we trust Him and allow Him to do so, we find the peace that only comes from Him. This requires faith, which positions us in His grace. It takes work to find this place of rest and stay there, but it’s well worth the effort.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Son went to the cross so that we could set aside all fear, anxiety, and worry, and simply rest in You. No more self-effort is needed, only Your grace. We’re thankful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Scriptures:

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, NKJV

2 Corinthians 12:9

James 4:14, 15

Jeremiah 10:23

Romans 5:1, 2

For more on letting go of self-effort and resting in the grace God has for us, click on the link for the DVD, Resting in Jesus.