“To Strive, or Not To Strive. That Is the Question.” – Part Two: Do I Dare Face Off against Myself?

Reading the apparent contrasts in the lists of scriptures I quoted in part one, you may already have asked these questions: “Does scripture contradict itself in what it demands of us?” and, “Isn’t this just another example of how the Bible can be made to say whatever we want?” Before considering how to reconcile the two lists, be sure to recognize the importance of considering them together. Otherwise, we easily fall into the trap of selectively listening to God’s word, or simply disregarding it altogether.

To the first question, “Does scripture contradict itself?” I would answer No. God’s word points us consistently in the same direction. But that’s why it is essential that it be taken in its entirety, with each passage carefully examined for its context as well as its content. In fact, as you read the verses I am struggling with, you may already have said to yourself: “that’s not what God means in those verses,” or at least “why isn’t he considering passages that address that topic more fully?”

That’s also why I would also answer the second question, “No.” My overactive anxieties and depression are tempting me to grasp at disconnected segments of the whole, making the Bible say what I do not want. The underlying temptation in this leads me to consider a disastrous sin: that I would give up on hearing from God and embark impulsively on whatever the path of least resistance seems to be at the moment. (For an example of how the enemy of our souls tries to use scripture to twist us to his plan, consider the third ploy he offers in the wilderness temptation of Christ. Luke 4:9-11.)

All of this contemplation of potential contradictions leads me to welcome the two-fold wisdom found in more direct comparisons like Proverbs 13:4, “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat.”

If I crave anything in this season of my life, it is that I crave those few days which require no expenditures. I cannot buy even the most basic groceries without calculating the percentage of their effect on our remaining bank balance. The greater challenge is to remain diligent in those things to which the Lord calls me, despite the fact that none of them provide income. Chaplaincies at Hospice and the Community Food Pantry, counseling for the hospital, substitute instructing for the seminary, and assisting in a classroom at the elementary school all fall under the same heading: organizations to which my services were once generously provided by the church that no longer pays me a salary. Only my work toward establishing a counseling center at the church we are attending hold the potential for someday providing an income.

But despite the sense of obligation without remuneration, there is this blessing in all of those organizations: They provide me with opportunities to remain diligent in the service described in Hebrews 6:10-12.

Hebrews 6:10–12 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Not sluggish, but diligent. And yet not desperately striving, but accepting of God’s timing, call, promise, and provision. The both of these can be balanced together even as I seek diligently to be and do as God has called me, even as I wait patiently for Him to tie some portion of those activities to a paycheck…perhaps.