This title speaks to probably half of the world right now. I’m doing my best. Have you ever felt so overwhelmed, so tired, so energy depleted that you felt as though sometimes there was nothing left? You’ve heard people say “I’m just trying to make it” or “I’m just getting by.” Day after day we all are trying to navigate pressure, decisions, expectations, layers and layers of responsibility and yet we are doing our best. When your job continues to add more and more responsibility, more expectation, more hours and you are barely keeping up. You are doing your best.
When there is mounting pressure at home. You are trying to keep up with running a household. The toys are everywhere, the house is messy, laundry keeps piling up and dinner is not ready on time. You are doing your best. Maybe you have older kids and you are trying to stay connected with them, lead and guide them in the right way but it seems that everything you do is not enough, you are doing your best.
Maybe you don’t have any kids, you are living alone and you are handling everything by yourself. You are faced with every decision on your own and you are doing everything to keep things afloat. You are doing your best. Maybe you are single and you’ve been dating and nothing is working out. You’ve tried different dating apps and you’ve been on countless blind dates and still no real connection. You are doing your best.
Maybe you are on a hamster wheel and you feel like every decision you make leads you back to the same result. Maybe you are trying to keep it all together with a long string of dental floss and if that string gets pulled any tighter, everything is going to pop. You are literally doing your best.
The common thread to all these situations and many more is that you are doing your best. God does not want you to do your best, he wants to give you his best! God has given us peace for every situation. First, if you stand in the middle of that situation where you are doing your best and just surrender and give it to God, he will give you peace. I’ll give you Matthew 6:34 – “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Philippians 4:6 – “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Next we have Psalm 4:8 – “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety.” And lastly, John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid.”
Take the pressure off! It does not belong to you. God has promised to carry our burdens. But he can’t if we are still carrying them. Think of it as God is trying to carry your bag of groceries and you tur around and face him and you are trying to carry it too. If you are trying to carry it with him, you cannot see what is in front of you. Let go, turnaround and walk forward. I know that sometimes it feels as if it’s not that simple, but pray and ask God to help you.
God wants to intervene in your situation. NO matter what that situation is. God cares about your heart and your well being. Next, see these situations for what they really are. You cannot do anything, change anything or even give anything, unless God allows it. We are not of our own strength. He gives us the ability to do all that we do. So only HE can change what is happening.
Matthew 6:33 tells us to “Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Everything you need! That is your basic needs and much more. Seeking the kingdom of God just means to turn to God first instead of worrying or taking on the pressures of this world. We are to sincerely put him first. This is how we pursue righteousness.
Here are a list of ways you can seek God in the midst of your situation:
- Pray
- Read your Bible
- Worship God
- Repent
- Praise
- Be thankful
Listen, God has given us many things. He gave his only begotten son, he gave us the holy spirit, love, freedom, peace and much more. So when you find yourself giving your best, stop, and accept God’s best. Experience the freedom he provides when you allow him into your situations. Grab ahold of the Joy he gives when you let go of worry, anxiety and stress. Hold tight to the peace you’ll have when realize that God’s best is the best you can do.
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