Maximum Effort part 5
I think the two hardest things in the world are 1. Doing what you don't want to do and 2. Not doing what you do want to do. Trying to go against your nature, in other words. And I think that's why religion is so frustrating. Religion tries to cram us into a box that we don't fit in. And even if we give maximum effort trying to be someone we're not, we're doomed to fail. Because you can't be someone you're not. How could you? And that goes for trying to be like Jesus more than anything else. Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. And that's where rest comes in. Because rest is not about us trying to finish the work so that we can rest. Rest is about experiencing Jesus' life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Rest is about letting things flow. So let's get back to my original point. We all have things we can do, and things we can't do. And if we try to go against our nature we WILL fail. All you get from banging your head against the wall is a headache. Trying and trying and trying is not what I mean by maximum effort. What I mean is going the extra mile for someone. Giving everything you are and everything you have for someone. But it gets tricky when you don't have what someone else needs. It gets tricky when you're trying to give something you don't have. I guess what I'm trying to say is: You can't do everything for everybody. And if you try, that's the same frustration and failure coming out again. That's why Paul wrote about some planting, and some watering, and Jesus getting the harvest. You don't have to do everything. Just do what you can do. Walk in your calling, if I can say it that way. Just be you. Just do what you can do. But do it all the way. Do small things with great love. And that makes the small things great things. Because there's faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. Don't do things for people because you feel guilty. Or because you feel obligated. Do things for people because it's in your heart to do things for them. That's what it means to me to follow your heart. To be led by the Spirit. Let love be your guide. But don't try to do something that you can't do. Because if you can't do it... you can't do it. And that's ok. You were not called to be a world changer, or a history maker. You were called to be a disciple. A student of love. You were called to be a Son. And a Son loves because He is loved by the Father. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. And all we need to do is receive it and release it. That's what maximum effort is. That's what rest is. Letting God love us to the max and then loving others to the max. Filling ourselves with His love until it overflows out of us. Naturally. Until our maximum effort isn't effort at all. But it's just what we do. It's just who we are.