My puppy Coco sleeps about 18 hours a day. She doesn't worry about where her next meal is coming from or if she'll have a roof over her head tomorrow. You might call her attitude toward life an example of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:25-34. Coco is definitely not consumed with anxiety!
In my book, When Christ Sets You Free, I identified two extremes of how believers approach life. The first is LifeStrife. The second is LifeStride. One of them leads to worry-free living.
When we forge ahead on our own, bypassing godly wisdom and operating in our own power, we can expect a life filled with struggle and contention—in other words, a life of strife. Those of us who strive work very hard. We often choose burdensome tasks and unbalanced loads. Jesus, on the other hand, described the life He offered: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mt. 11:30). Instead of a heavy, unbalanced load, Jesus promised an even yoke. The analogy is two oxen pulling together instead of pulling against each other.
LifeStrife is a dog-eat-dog way of existence (pardon the expression, Coco). But it's as American as apple pie and baseball. "Earn your keep. Work your way to the top."
If you study the major religions of the world, you will find they are based on LifeStrife: please God by doing for Him (doing vs. being). Humans do the work, and the Supreme Being is hopefully satisfied by their efforts. This approach to obtaining salvation reflects an amazing consistency: self effort.
In matters of faith, believers gravitate toward the code of “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” LifeStrife is the essence of most religion, but it is the antithesis of faith. Faith is giving control to God. Striving is the illusion of control.
The opposite kind of life is LifeStride. In my next post I'll explain the implications of "striding" instead of "striving."
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