Escalator

Why hello again friends! My apologies for the brief (ok, rather long) hiatus in postings - the end of the year is always totally crazy, and this year is certainly no exception. I'm definitely looking forward for summer to officially roll around and to have lots of time to discuss and share about how the Lord is moving in our lives!  


Fortunately, I was lucky enough to go back to Princeton last weekend for reunions (woohoo!). My favorite part is getting to catch up with people I don't see as regularly and have some real, good conversations (which can be hard when you're seeing all a million and one of your college acquaintances), but I wasn't disappointed. One conversation that really sticks out in my mind is one that I had with a fellow med student. As we were sharing about all the cool things we were learning (and real talk: all the work we had to do), one of the ideas that we both expressed was this idea of constantly striving to be the best as an ultimate goal. We both discussed the various pressures of our institutions to match at the best residencies, do the best research, and be the most renown doctors. While we both acknowledged that these were admirable goals, we kept running into some of the same questions: Am I striving to be the best to glorify the Lord or myself? How do I balance between working hard to glorify God while also surrendering my future career plans to Him? Does the Lord really need me to be the most successful in my field to use me? Where is this drive in me to work to achieve the best I can coming from anyways - myself or the Lord? Is this a desire I could let go, or is it something that's enslaving me? All sorts of really awesome things to think about! One analogy that we sort of came up with at the end is that our education feels a bit like an walking up a down escalator - constantly striving to do the absolute best to a achieve a potentially unachievable goal of prestige/success, maybe without the best of intentions. 


I've been reading through Hebrews in my quiet times, and so many related topics have been coming up in my readings lately! I'd definitely recommend reading both chapters 3 and 4, but I've got a good chunk from 4 that I wanted to share a few thoughts about 

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. ~ Hebrews 4: 6 - 16

So there's a ton of awesome stuff here that I'm not going to get into, but I wanted to provide a little context first: basically, the previous chapter warns about how the Israelites rebelled against the Lord, and advises on how the Hebrews can avoid doing this again. Some of the things I really like from this above passage are:

-It emphasizes the importance of resting in the Lord as a means of helping with our obedience towards Him. While we are sorting out how best to spend our time and careers, taking time out to rest in the Lord is absolutely critical to make sure that we are centered.

-It highlights that the Lord's word can shed light onto our hearts. Although it's certainly a little scary to think that the Lord of the universe knows my every thought, it is comforting that His word can help shed light on my own motivations and desires that are hidden to myself. As I'm trying to figure out my motivation behind picking a particular career or doing a certain action, I'm not alone in this - the Lord wants to help me figure myself out and point me in a direction where my thoughts and actions glorify Him.

-The Lord understands our weaknesses. This is probably one of my favorite verses in the whole bible. It's so comforting to know that as we are sorting things out, God understands where we are coming from, has been there, and has dealt with the situation perfectly. 

-God promises to give us His grace and mercy when we need it. The Lord doesn't make us go through things alone - He offers all we need as we are sorting through times of trial and complicated life decisions. 

So ultimately, I'm not sure exactly how much the two of these passages are related (really I feel that this Hebrews passage can apply to lots of things), but my take away point would be this: 

As we are wrestling with the best way to spend our efforts to glorify the Lord in daily life, we need to rest in His presence, dwell in His word, and accept His mercy and grace as support, knowing that He understands our situation fully and perfectly. 

Have a lovely and blessed Saturday :)