My Best Effort is NEVER Good Enough

Filling out a job applictation:  "Were you ever terminated or discharged from a previous job?  Why?"
I think long and hard on my answer.  My best effort didn't measure up.  My best effort...
As I ruminate how to answer this question, I hear the lyrics to Matthew West's song "Strong Enough" float around me and my answer hits me like a ton of bricks.  My best effort.  I can't do it on my own.

That is kind of the point...I can't do anything without God.  The days are a little fuzzy now.  I remember the stress.  I remember wanting to do everything well. I neglected God till the stress was overwhelming.  It was a different kind of stress...it wasn't a defensive kind.  It was a balance thing.

The stress of a more than full time job stopped.  The struggle now became what to do with my time. Yes, I have job searched.  Nothing.  I have been able to serve more at my church, go to women's Bible study, help out neighbors, make new friends, and more.  There is a certain flexibility with not having a specific job.

My best effort will never measure up in a job, a fitness and food program, or in church service.  I can't do anything on my own.  I am only good and can only do good through Christ.  Apart from Him, I can do nothing.  It is a daily surrender~a heart, mind, and spirit matter.  This is easier said than done.  I hope and pray that I will surrender each day, each moment, and each breath to my Lord.

For the Glory of God,

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"

~Colossians 1:27

The Motions

The Motions

This might hurt, it's not safe

But I know that I've gotta make a change

I don't care if I break,

At least I'll be feeling something'

Cause just okay is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything,

instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time

I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind

Let Your love make me whole

I think I'm finally feeling something

'Cause just okay is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything,

instead of going through the motions?"

(songlyrics.com)

Have you ever gotten stuck in a routine or a rut you just couldn't quite get out of? I have sometimes taken things in life for granted so much that it just feels like I am washing my hair.

Step 1-Apply

Step 2-Rinse

Step 3-Repeat

When life gets this routine, I have to examine my motives for many things and make sure that I am not just going through the motions. The Motions by Matthew West is a song that is one of my favorites and is becoming a true prayer of mine. I want to give God my everything and be passionate for His Word and things of Him.

In my heart of hearts, I don't want to be ever caught up in the motions of life or my relationship with my Lord. I have the blessing and honor to attend a benefit concert by Matthew West for a fellow Christian who did not want to live life by going through the motions. His life ended two days after this song touched his life and his brother will be to share his testimony. I can't wait.