January 21: Do Not Keep Striving & Worrying

Gregg’s Reflection

Anxious thoughts rob us of peace. Comparing ourselves to others robs us of joy. We often compare the outer calm of others with our own inner turmoil, unaware that their calm may be just as fragile as ours. When caught in negative thought loops, I drift from silence into striving—striving for security, approval, and worthiness.

For many years, I believed I could make God smile through my own effort. But that was a lie—one that turned me into my own savior. Again and again, God allowed me to “hit the wall” so that I might learn to trust Him instead of myself.

The only true obstacle to living this way is trust. How hard it is to trust the living God. How hard it is to trust that we are beloved and upheld in every moment by God. So, we struggle and strive in our own strength, in a never-ending quest for worthiness. 

Following Jesus’ path means releasing the relentless quest for success, power, and prestige. It means choosing the downward way of humility, service, and surrender—discovering the God who dwells within.

Scripture

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Luke 12:24

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these…And do not keep striving…Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Luke 12:27–31

If you have gathered nothing in your youth, how can you find anything in your old age? That is true not only of money and material goods, but also of peace and purity of heart.

Sirach 25:3–4

Ancient Quotes

The soul that clings to the things of this world is full of cares and anxieties, but the one that rises above them lives already in the peace of God.

Gregory of Nyssa, On the Beatitudes, Sermon 1, Sermons on the Beatitudes, trans. Hubertus Drobner, p. 45

The beginning of salvation is to cast away anxiety and to trust in God’s providence in all things.

Abba Poemen, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, trans. Benedicta Ward, p. 157

Modern Quotes

Receiving Unconditional Love. The effect of accepting this love is a whole new image of oneself, other persons, and the way the world is structured. To be loved so profoundly and so securely, beyond all the circumstances of one's conditions and qualities, satisfies the deepest longings of the human heart and, therefore, releases the energy that had been committed to the tasks of defending and augmenting oneself. 

The one loved experiences a great release of tension, a huge relaxation of all the barriers built up for protection, and a letting go of the aggressive operations used for augmentation. All this becomes unnecessary, and the energy that had been bound up in these defensive and offensive devices is liberated in joy and happiness. 

This joyous energy immediately goes out in love to other persons. It wants to give itself to other persons. The one liberated by love now loves others. and each of them, being liberated, loves still others, and the love and liberation spread.

Beatrice Bruteau, The Grand Option, p. 8, 12

If it is true that people age the way they live, our first task is to help people discover lifestyles in which ‘being’ is not identified with ‘having’…and goodness is not the same as popularity.

Henri Nouwen, Nouwen Society Daily Devotional, 6/29/20

Journaling Prompts

• What are you striving for that God may be asking you to release?
  
  
• How does worry affect your ability to trust Him?
  
  
• What would it look like to trade striving for rest in God’s provision?
  
  
• In your quest for success, how much is enough?
  

If you wish to find peace in your soul, release outcomes to God, and focus on being present in the present moment, being rather than doing.

👉 Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 3 reflection: Being vs Doing