Do you ever get stressed out by all that life asks of you? It can be a lot. Between financial obligations, relationships, and personal goals, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Especially if you look around and start comparing your life to everyone else’s. There are certain expectations of what your life is “supposed” to look like by now. Whenever ‘now’ is for you. They may not even be spoken expectations, but they still call for your attention. 

They may even be expectations you’ve placed on yourself. 

Let this be your reminder though that God’s opinion is the one that matters most. This is something He’s been reminding me of lately too. My greatest purpose in life isn’t to achieve all of my goals by 35. It’s not to meet everyone else’s expectations of my life. My greatest purpose is to please my God. To honor and worship Him. To know Him and make Him known. Anything more than that is extra. 

Don’t be discouraged by what you don’t see happening in your life. What you feel like you’re missing out on or failing at. Focus on God. Let His word be the lamp to our feet that He promises it to be. 

Just do the work in front of you. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to do everything. Trust God to provide and do the heavy lifting. Just be faithful. That’s all He’s asking of you. We don’t serve a God who’s a raging taskmaster. He’s good and faithful and His love for us isn’t dependent on our job performance or any other performance. He loves us regardless of us. 

Let your work be for God’s glory. Let it be done because God’s given you the means to do it. 

Maybe He’s shown you a specific assignment that He has for you. Or maybe it’s just loving the person in front of you. Maybe it’s being a voice for someone else who can’t speak for themselves. 

In all things, our most basic purpose is to worship our God. To know Him and make Him known. Every person needs to hear about God. Needs to know the love and the freedom that He has for them. We serve a good God. Get to know Him. Make Him known. Represent Him well. 

Micah 6:8 lays out our assignment well. Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with our God. 

Take care of the people around you. Speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves when you see injustices. Read your Word to know some of those injustices that might not be so easily noticed. God tells us to care for the lost, for the orphans, the widows, the sojourners. Share the gospel with those who need it (everybody). Do for others where you’re able to, whether with your time, money, or belongings. 

Show others love with a kind word or help with a task. Look around and see where you can show someone kindness in your everyday life. It doesn’t have to be some big, formal thing that requires you to go somewhere. Be aware of other people and how you can help in small ways. 

Be faithful in your relationship with God. Pray. Read your Bible. Get to know the God who created you. Get to know how He feels about all the people He created. Understand how much He loves you and other people and what it looks like to follow Him and to interact with people in a way that honors God. To walk humbly with your God. 

He loves you unconditionally. He created you, knowing exactly the kind of person you would be. Every thought to cross your mind and every action you take. Every misstep and every success. He’s a good Father. A good God. Read your Word and get to know Him. See how He interacts with His children and what it looks like to work for a God who loves us so well. 

Life still has obligations and people, ourselves included, still have expectations of us. I’m not saying that any of that doesn’t exist. I also live in this world. But I’m also learning that God always provides. Any time I come to Him saying that I don’t know what to do or I’m so overwhelmed by whatever is going on, He always tells me just to take the next step. To not look at the big picture of my life, but to break it down and see what’s in front of me. 

Sometimes that means an actionable step. Sometimes that means rest if I’ve overworked myself. Sometimes it’s more vague. Maybe I need to research something or wait for something. But in every answer, He always reminds me that He’s God. Not me. He’s in control. He’s carrying the load. That’s not my job. And He’ll remind me to take my hands off of it. I don’t always listen. Sometimes I hate the idea of losing control. In general, I hate the idea of losing control. But I don’t even have it to start with. And there’s peace in letting God handle things. In remembering that it isn’t all up to me and I don’t have to figure out my whole life in the next five seconds. I can just sit and take care of the moment in front of me. 

Make your plans. Figure out what you can. And then hand it to God. Make those plans in conversation with Him and let Him have the final say. He sees more than we can. Sometimes we might be planning for something that won’t matter by the time we get up to it. Sometimes new things happen that we never expected. But God does. He sees it all. So keep Him in the conversation. A major part of the conversation. Let Him lead it. Let Him change your mind. Let Him establish your steps. 

Just focus on your part. The step in front of you. The person in front of you. The constant role that you keep. Know Him and make Him known. Serve Him with gladness. Leave the rest to God. He’s faithful and capable. Rest in Him.