Last weekend was the women’s retreat and we have decided to post the retreat talks done by some of the members of our Women’s Leadership Team. This one is by Juliet Power:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8–10
Like most women in my season of life, I’m busy; exceedingly busy.
At the end of most days when my husband comes in from work and I’m getting dinner on the table, he asks how the day has gone. I respond with highlights, then, more times than not the final phrase is something like: I’m tired … it’s been a long day.
In the verse above, it tells us that salvation is a gift rather than something we earn ourselves. Then in the very next verse it says we are his workmanship, created FOR good works that we should walk in them. Such a powerful passage, yet it presents a challenge to me: Where does my “doing” fit in the free gift of salvation?
The popular voices of women leaders of our current society do not generally help. From blogs to tweets to popular books, the promise is success if you just follow a prescribed plan. We are bombarded with me-centered works-driven self-help advice that promises much, but ultimately reveals itself to be shallow and empty. It is exhausting; a treadmill with a huge mirror in front, leading nowhere.
What the books don’t tell you is there will always be a sequel. Rest actually never comes except for that very brief, fleeting window in which a goal is met — only to realize there are now new ones and next steps to getting there.
Then the message becomes: Stretch it, Girl, that was just the beginning! There are new, amazing goals YOU can accomplish. There is always a Volume 2 it would seem. Then, when those volumes are expended, new books with new strategies will follow the same pattern. Updates and polish on the same me-oriented message.
In this popular mindset, we are in the driver’s seat of our lives — the “God is my Co-pilot” mindset of the 80’s repackaged for modern consumption. It is not about God’s plan, but our carefully-crafted plan for success driven by our own ingenuity and determination.
It begs the question: Who is getting the glory and focus in this mindset?
God can quickly become an appendage to our self-focus and self-reliance. Those promoting this worldview seem to only encourage acknowledging God’s plan when it is aligned with our own. Let’s do a little comparison.
Popular takes say: Set goals and let nothing distract you from achieving them.
God says: Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.
Worldly wisdom says: Set boundaries from people and circumstances that distract you or add toxicity to your life.
Scripture says: Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the Law of Christ.
Pop culture says: Find your inner strength and believe in yourself, you are enough.
Jesus says: I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing
One view elevates self and thus, it is self who gets the glory and boasting rights. The other centralizes Jesus, and He receives all the glory.
There was a writer many years ago that had a far better take than many of our contemporary voices. His name — St. Augustine. Here was his take:
You made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they find their rest in You.
Can’t we see this in the world today? A relentless restlessness. A collective inability to be satisfied and at peace with ourselves, others, and the world around us. Because we are not at peace with our Creator as the all sufficient, Sovereign Lord of our lives who has a plan He promises to bring to completion.
The are a number of verses that offers us the precious promise of rest that is available to the people of God. It is a rest available because He is enough and He already has done enough. We see this in Matthew 11:25-30.
All who labor and are heavy laden. That is every single one of us. No matter the season of our lives. From those just beginning adulthood and trying to figure out education/vocation, to those in the trenches of raising a family, to those of us welcoming grandchildren and learning to navigate the autumn season of life; each of us in our individual ways are laboring and heavy laden. Jesus promises us rest. But how? Isn’t a yoke an instrument of labor?
Let’s make a mental picture: an ox in a yoke. An ox does not wear a yoke while resting, but while laboring. This is significant. The rest of Jesus is not inactivity, but available to us in the working, stresses and daily busyness of life. The very next phrase is: and learn from me. The word “learn” in this text is the verb form of disciple. It is the yoke of discipleship.
Jesus goes on to say that this particular yoke is easy and our burden is light. How can this be? It is not because He expects less of us, but because He Himself bears our burdens. It is He who is at work in and through us, doing His work of conforming us into his image.
The word we use for this process is sanctification. We stand, because He makes us stand. The Shepherd of our souls is not a taskmaster, but as He describes Himself — gentle and humble in heart.
In contrast to the self-focused motivational messaging we hear today, Jesus promises we will never be alone, because we cannot make it alone. We were never meant to. This is why we are able to rest. This is why Jesus can say his burden is light. We have Help. With every aspect of our yoke of discipleship, there is the Helper working in and through us to bring about the Father’s will in our sanctification. The constant Presence of God with and in us, hard at work, assuring us we are never alone.
It is also worth noting that in our rest, Jesus never promised life will run smoothly and we will have less problems and challenges. He actually promised the opposite in John 16:33, saying:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
In the thick of managing demanding children, tight schedules, limited budgets and the call that places one more demand on you when you are already barely treading water; in those very overwhelming moments we are not alone. We have his Spirit, our Helper hard at work in us. This is tremendously powerful and encouraging on a very practical level.
One of the reasons this is difficult for me is because of my theological past. As Pastor Jim says, Bad theology hurts people. I can attest to this as true. I grew up with a theology that clearly and emphatically says: Jesus + obedience = salvation. Our salvation was not in Christ alone, but a mixture of the work of Christ and our own obedience.
It troubled me deeply from an early age that I could never peg how much was required for me to be at peace and able to rest in my salvation. No one could tell me. I was even taught you could not know you were saved until Judgement Day; it was presumptuous to assume you were actually saved! There was never real peace with the Lord, therefore never true rest.
Imagine growing up insecure that if you were to pass away, Hell might actually be the eternity you would receive no matter how hard you were trying because you simply did not obey “enough.” This really was my reality. It plagued my mom, my sister, and myself. None in our family had real peace and rest because we had no security found in Christ alone.
The first time I can look back and see God beginning a long process of opening my eyes was as a camp counselor at a Christian youth camp the summer of 1996. I was 20 years old. I was plagued with wanting assurance of my salvation. A couple of kind and sympathetic pastors studied with me one evening after dinner. I remember one pastor making me read aloud from the book of Romans and asking what the words meant. He was trying to force me to see scripture without the lenses I had been wearing for so long. He was challenging me, but in a very kind, pastoral and loving way. I thank God for his patience in working with me.
When he had me read this scripture: there is therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus, he had me stop, think, and process this passage in light of a true relationship with Jesus. He also helped me see that this was in contrast to the rule-keeping religiosity I was defining as the basis for being “in Christ.”
When the light bulb finally went on, my eyes filled with tears and I literally felt as if a concrete slab were lifted from my back. My response was to say: But that’s too good to be true! I can actually know I’m saved? Even when I mess up and sin and can’t seem to conquer things? My salvation is secure?? That just seems too good to be true.
He just said: You can know it’s true because it is promise of God. Listen and cleave to his voice and words and in them you will find the security that does seem too good to be true. It is true and it is GOOD and this is why the Gospel means The GOOD news.
We realized we needed to call it a night and terrible storm was blowing outside — a classic Texas T-storm: thunder, lightning and heavy rain. I look back and think, God really created a perfect environment for me that night to bring home the truth of rest and peace in Him alone. In spite of dangerous weather that would cause distress for normal people, for the first time in my entire life, I felt an overwhelming peace in my soul. I never had felt so ‘at rest’ and confident in where I would go should that storm literally blow me away. I walked back to my cabin, lay down, smiled and slept soundly. I remember thinking: Man, I hope this cabin doesn’t blow away, but if it does, I know where I’m going. He is enough.
I would slip back into old patterns and legalism and it would take many years for God to work me completely out of the bad theology, but it all really began that night with the first step of knowing that Jesus is enough, and my salvation and security and confidence rest in Him alone. The peace and rest in my soul were the products of being taught the Gospel with nothing added to it. My physical body was able to rest and sleep even in a terrible storm due to the deep peace I was experiencing for the first time in the Lord Jesus. I thought I knew Jesus my whole life. What I did not fully embrace was his all sufficiency.
So, how do we apply the truths we are discussing that rest is provided in Christ? Our actions begin in our hearts and minds. We must be rooted and convicted in the truth of his promise that HE is enough and that HE provides rest for our souls, that HE gives us the Holy Spirit to be with us forever. When we are in the thick of stress and daily grind instead of our mind going right to: I have to do this or If I don’t get ___ done or I’m so tired and spent. Instead, our mind can be filled with reassurance such as reminders like: This is so hard, but I’m not alone. God hears my every cry. He will provide. He is at work. He is enough. Help me, Lord.
The convictions we have will change our thought patterns, which in turn will change our behaviors. It is not a “3 Step Plan to Resting in Jesus.” It is simply knowing his promises, holding to them tightly and letting this truth transform our minds, our actions, and our daily living. We do not have to listen to the voices of the world or our own internal voices — which bring continual pressure and anxiety. We have his voice that says:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Get the full-text PDF HERE.