Have you ever strived and worked to achieve a goal you thought would make a difference, only to see that door shut? You work and pour yourself into your life, a dream, but for what? For quite a while I have been working, stressing, and fussing over becoming someone that I thought I should be. “Be all you can be!” “Become your best self”. You know the lie? If only I could achieve that job, I’d be someone of value. I’d be important. I would matter. But when God closes that door, he doesn’t leave you in the dark and silence. If you listen, you will hear his sweet voice whispering to you.

Recently, I’ve hit that wall, and I’ve had that door closed in my face. Expectations are not what I thought, and disappointment abounds! We’ve all been to that point where we feel undervalued and underappreciated. Yet, why am I feeling such disappointment? Will any of this—what I’ve been striving for matter in 1,000 years?

Climbing the ladder is fine and God wants us to put our heart and soul into our work and our families. But for what purpose? To achieve glory for ourselves? NO!! My life really isn’t about me. It’s really about Him; His glory and His honor. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36 ESV)

Satan likes to twist God’s words; he is the master of lies! The truth is however, that it doesn’t matter how I score on my yearly evaluation or how much I might struggle with the monkey, that I can’t seem to shake from my back—no matter what…Jesus is always there for me! With Him, there are no expectations, no checklists, no yearly evaluations. With Him—there is only his love and the sacrifice that he made on our behalf. And that sacrifice wasn’t made because of WHO I am. No! It was made because of WHO He is!

The bible teaches us a lot about how to live the good Christian life. When we come to faith in Christ, we leave behind our old life of sin and we turn a new to Him. But that doesn’t always happen overnight. Not everyone has a Saul to Paul conversion. Many of us, myself included, learn and grow, slowly—overtime—struggling, failing, and trying again. But in the midst of that struggle there is never a moment that the Father or the Son, would look at each other and say, “Why did we pick her?” “She is such a mess! She’s hopeless and undeserving of our love.”

I was able to see Billy Graham preach when I was in my 30’s. It was an awesome opportunity to hear such a man of God share the gospel. Billy Graham always concluded the night with the old hymn, Just as I Am, by Charlotte Elliott. “

Just as I am—without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
Oh Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt
Fighting and fears within without
O Lamb of God, I come

Dear friend, God isn’t waiting for you and I to get our lives in order so that we can come to Him, as a perfect Christian. Christ has already paid the price for us, and all we have to do is come. Come in our current, messy, and very imperfect state. He’s done all the work and all we have to do is accept His free gift. As we learn and grow, we will hear His voice even clearer. There will be days when He will close a door to redirect us. But in all things, He does so with the love of a father and the best intentions for His children. We don’t need to strive to be someone important. We are already a child of the King!