Self-Made Measuring Stick

It shook my heart when I read this verse:

The Lord is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion. Isaiah 30:18

Sometimes at the end of the day I find myself downright tired of trying, and the last thing I think is that God is awaiting the chance to say, “Stop trying.”

Do you have those days?  We sell ourselves to trying to be the perfect wife or girlfriend, daughter, sister or the most zealous employee, creative decorator, best party planner, and thoughtful friend.  We dedicate ourselves to accomplish the impossible.  Yet in the end, our 24 hours in the day didn’t stretch across the 185021 hours we tried to make them. We didn’t measure up.

The first time I read this verse I felt like the Lord was saying,

“Caroline, stop trying so hard.  I’m ready and waiting to pour out mercy!! I’m waiting for you to see that you need it!”

God doesn’t ask us to try harder; He’s asks us first to accept His grace.  Perpetual trying (and inevitably failing) is a burden that we place on ourselves that stems from the lie—“We must try to measure up.”

The problem is: measure up to what??  The measuring stick of our performance is self-made, and it certainly doesn’t come from God!

When I try so hard in my own strength, it’s because I’m trying to meet my own standards in my own strength, instead of accepting God’s mercy and compassion that says there is no other standard but grace.

Here’s the back story to this gem of a verse,

The Israelites saw themselves as weak, and by all worldy standards… they were!  Despite God’s anthem of promises to deliver from the Assyrians, the Israelites’ fear led them to make a backup plan in case God didn’t deliver.  They wedded themselves to their former oppressors—the Egyptians— in order to build a wall of protection from the Assyrians.   Yet as God always does, He was sure to remind them that any wall apart from Him will crumble.  And that’s exactly what happened.

Despite God’s promises, the Israelites were determined to fight their own battle—and God let them.  The Israelites prided themselves in their weapons and in particular–their strong horses.

Wordly strength seems so promising until the battle—the Israelites fled as soon as one enemy soldier showed up!  They were left alone in defeat.

God told told the Israelites—and He tells us— that victory is found by “returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence.”

Worldly wisdom says to trust in the strong horses, become strong enough to face grief or rejection, become perfect enough to “measure up.”
True Victory realizes we’re fighting a different enemy with the Victor on our side.

Victory is not becoming perfect, but realizing perfection isn’t the goal.
Victory is realizing that we need mercy and compassion because our horses will never be strong enough.
Victory is accepting grace and full communion with the One who awaits to change the rules of our skewed game.

He longs to tell us to stop trying and see HIM.

My prayer for us:
That we might see that we need mercy and compassion and then… accept mercy and compassion.
He awaits.  you.

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