If you have ever measured your good days and bad days by your accomplishments or lack there of, come and listen to the lesson I needed to learn about trusting God with my time.

Quotes “Jesus, did a work so that we don’t have to live by our work”- Becky Keife Episode 34

Journaling Questions:

• Do you have achievements or successes you are clinging to for value?
• Are your actions motivated by what others think? Are you acting to be seen?
• What would it take in your life to help you see your weakness and your need for God?
• What can you learn from your weakness or from your lack?
• Are you looking for steps of accomplishment or steps of trust in your life?
• Where can you see God working in your life?

Looking to explore your next step of trust?  I have gathered some verses and some questions into a journaling resource to help us process what’s next- how do we act in trust?

Sign up here to receive your free, 5 day journaling tool to help explore your next step to of trust. 

 I want to hear from you!
You can find me and join in the conversation on Facebook and Instagram @stepstotrusting.

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Verses mentioned in the episode:

• Matthew 6:4, 6, 18
• 1 Corinthians 1:26 ff
• James 1:17
• Psalm 116
• Ephesians 2 :8-10

Episodes mentioned

Episode 15– God’s compassion

See below for a full transcript of this episode.  

[00:00:00] Erin: Hi, this is Erin Michelle. Welcome to steps to trusting at steps to trusting. It’s my goal to meet you where you are in your faith journey, and to encourage you to continue to take steps to trusting the Lord more fully.

[00:00:12] Welcome back. I’m glad you guys are here.

[00:00:17] friends. Do you ever get to the end of the day and wonder what you did with your day? You know, that you tried to spend your time? Well, you know, that you try to

[00:00:29] invest or achieve or accomplish, and yet you look at maybe the mess of your house

[00:00:35] or the unchecked list in front of you and you wonder, what did you do all day? And you wonder was that time well spent.

[00:00:44] or was it wasted

[00:00:46] and you feel defeated or discouraged

[00:00:49] if you have ever found yourself

[00:00:52] having good days and bad days swinging by what you have accomplished or what you have not accomplished and letting the weight of that, sit on your shoulders. Then this podcast episode is for you. I’m going to start us in prayer, Dear God, I pray that you would show us how we Live by your righteousness. We live by what you are doing in us. Not by our own works Your word tells us that you are all we know.

[00:01:22] Oh, God, your, your word says you are the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through you

[00:01:30] and Lord. We try to find our own way We often try to plan our own steps

[00:01:37] and we forget that God, you are behind it all you are with us in our accomplishments.

[00:01:44] You are with us in our failures and Lord, as we were reminded last week and are reminded in your word. That you work all things together for the good of those who love you and who are called according to your purpose. Lord, I pray that you would guide our time, guide my words and turn our hearts to remember that we can rest in you.

[00:02:07] It’s in Jesus name. I pray. Amen

[00:02:09] in the last episode with Becky Keef, Becky and I were discussing about how our actions do not define us, whether mistakes or accomplishments. And she had said, I really don’t see any basis in scripture telling us that we should let those actions away us down, or let those actions lift us up and allow us to soar and pride over what we have accomplished. I think both of these things are a temptation for me to fall into both of these traps. Becky also said, Jesus did a work so that we wouldn’t have to live by our work.

[00:02:51] Friends, as I have been contemplating this, I find that this is something I know in my head, but God is working it in that I know it in my heart. and I don’t know about with you guys, but for me, I find that sometimes when God puts something on my heart to learn, it’s sometimes actually gets harder or it gets worse before it gets easier So this week. felt like a low point to be walking in a place where I felt like I wanted to have a work or an accomplishment, checked off so that I could find value in that.

[00:03:27] And I felt really discouraged that I couldn’t check something off my list.

[00:03:32] I had to realize that the reason I feel discouraged right now is because I’m trying to trust in my own works. And friends, we are not defined by our actions by our works, whether they’re good or bad.

[00:03:45] and so this episode, I’m sharing with you, my lesson of how I am learning total loosely, my achievements, my successes, my failures, my mistakes. Oh, I am learning as we talked about last week to hold that all loosely to the Lord to hold it out with those open hands, we’ve talked about several times.

[00:04:08] I realize

[00:04:10] again, every good and perfect gift I have is from the Lord and that he did a work. So I don’t have to, just yesterday. I was. Messaging some friends and saying, I feel like I have so much, I want to accomplish.

[00:04:28] And I decided to invest my day and doing a certain task. And I get to the end of the day and I worked all day long

[00:04:36] and I took effort toward that project all day long. And it feels like, and it looks like nothing was accomplished.

[00:04:47] And I questioned am I spending my time wisely? Should I do the things that when others will come home, they’ll see and say, great job. The dinner looks wonderful. The rooms look organized. Thank you for folding my laundry. But in those moments, I was realizing how tied to my actions, how tied to my accomplishments that I’ve let my value be. often we let our identity and our value be

[00:05:18]

[00:05:18] Erin: tied up in what people see, what we do, how people know us we worry. Will they think that I’m enough?

[00:05:26] If no one can see what I’ve done all day, what I’ve accomplished? Am I enough? Is there value?

[00:05:35] And so friends, I want to look at some scriptures and I want to try and let that wash over us to try and let that speak peace and rest to our souls and remind us that our value, it does not come from our accomplishments or our failures. Let’s start in Matthew six, I’m going to start reading in verse one, be aware of practicing your righteousness before other people, in order to be seen by them for you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy sound, no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may be praised by others.

[00:06:18] Truly. I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that you’re giving maybe in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

[00:06:33] If you were to read all of Matthew six, you would see that several times it is repeated that phrase. And the father who sees in secret will reward you. we just read it in verse four it also shows up in verse six and

[00:06:49] and again, in verse 18. So in four, it’s talking about giving our good works to be seen and six, it talks about the Pharisees praying to be seen, but verse six says, but when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who is in secret will reward you. and then when you get to first 18, it’s talking about fasting and I think that we could consider this also about making sacrifices because they’re making that sacrifice of not having food,. So here, he says, that when they’re fasting, they disfigure their faces so that they may be seen by others. And I say they have received their reward.

[00:07:36] But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

[00:07:50] I’ve mentioned before, but in this season, The presence of God is one of the themes that’s really shining through in my life that I’m really learning that God is present.

[00:08:03] And just thinking about each of these situations, the things that we do we do in God’s presence, right? So everything we do, we can do it as unto the Lord.

[00:08:14] And I think often for me, I don’t know if this is true for you guys, but for me, when I get to the end of the day and I want to have the accomplishment, I want somebody, whether it’s my husband or my children, or the ministry leaders that I’m working with to look back and to see that I’ve accomplished something for the day.

[00:08:34] Look at Erin, she’s accomplished something. Maybe I want to impress them. Maybe I want to feel good about myself, but God is reminding us

[00:08:45] that we can do things that are just between me and the Lord. You can do things that are just between you and the Lord. And when you think about the things that you do in secret, that’s your father who sees in secret will reward you. That reminds me that it is about relationship with God.

[00:09:05] It’s not about being seen. It’s not about accomplishments. It’s about relationship. And the things that we do often for me, the temptation is to do them for the world. Now, I don’t think that it’s wrong to do things for your family or your friends or your church. And yet, we can do these kinds of things as a sacrifice, as a thing of not needing to be seen.

[00:09:35] How do you all feel about that? I think it’s a challenge for me because I want to have the accomplishment I want to be seen.

[00:09:43] Okay for you, young moms. I am past the super young mom, stage, but I remember when I had a son who wake up a million times a night and, I remember how I would tell my husband, I woke up with our son six times last night. I wanted that to be seen. I wanted to be acknowledged. I wanted the other things I didn’t get during the day, done because I was exhausted to, kind of be bolstered by the look what I did do.

[00:10:16] Maybe I didn’t get to this, but look what I did do.

[00:10:19] when you look at what it’s talking about and fasting and talking about the sacrifices they disfigure their faces when they’re fasting. So there’ll be seen by others. I know I personally disfigured my face. I’m so tired. I’m so tired.

[00:10:35] But this is saying we can take that sacrifice. We can make that a sacrifice as unto the Lord. Not that we’ve received our reward by praise, but that we, but that our father who sees in secret will reward us. And so I go back to the days where you feel like you’re not accomplishing it, anything for those of you with young toddlers that might feel like you’ve cleaned all day, you picked up all the toys, you vacuumed the floors, and there are still crumbs and still toys.

[00:11:06] For those of you with teenagers that might mean you did all the laundry and folded it and asked your kids to put it away and they put it on the floor.

[00:11:15] We are often tempted to look at what was accomplished or organized or put together. And those are not bad things, but we don’t have to have an end product or something to check off the list for our time to be well spent.

[00:11:34] Maybe it could be that you were with someone in a moment. Maybe you paid attention to your child or a friend who was in need. Love poured out to someone in the gift of your time or love poured out in the laundry that was folded to them. Kindness offered

[00:11:54] I need to be reminded that in each moment, God has something for me in it. Whether it’s time spent on something that is finished and undone.

[00:12:06] Whether I can see a product, or if it is time spent looking someone in the eye. There is value being in the moment time spent love, poured out kindness.

[00:12:21] Things that we can’t see things that we don’t know what was accomplished, but in the moments that God has something for us. And to remember that there is value in the sacrifice, there is value in the time spent, even if it is undone. The thing checked off the list, doesn’t have to be the reward. The accomplishment that then gets praised. Doesn’t have to be reward. Even if you can’t check something off your list, even if no one else can see it. .

[00:12:56] remembering that there is value in the sacrifice and that your God, the father who sees in secret will reward you.

[00:13:06] This is so challenging to me to remember that the things I do. Can’t be what I lay my value on the accomplishment, the product. Isn’t what tells me if that moment was valuable or if I’m valuable or of how I spend my time is valuable.

[00:13:23] Okay, I’m going to take us to another verse

[00:13:25] it’s found in first Corinthians one, I’m going to start in 26. for consider your calling brothers. Not many of you were wise, according to worldly standards. Not many of you are powerful. Not many of you were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, to choose what is weak in the world to shame the strong God chose what is low and despised in the world.

[00:13:51] Even things that are not. To bring to nothing things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ. Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So that, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord friends. This is a reminder to me that I can’t boast in my accomplishments. I can’t.

[00:14:23] I’m trying to wrap my head around this lesson because when we look at the things that we do in secret will be rewarded. And yet we’re told here, then if we’re going to boast boast in the Lord. And I think that for my heart, this is reminding me, back to that verse in James, that I talk about all the time, James, one 17, that every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights

[00:14:52] It reminds me that even those things that I think I’m doing in secret, that I want to check off, look what I did. Look at the accomplishment. I need to look back and say, it’s because of him. If it is good, it is because of God, it is not because of Erin and these verses remind us that if we are wise, it is because of God’s wisdom.

[00:15:15] If we are powerful or of noble birth, it’s because of God’s working in our lives. But often it’s those things. When people see those people, the strong people, the wise people by the worldly standards, they want to lift them up and God allows us to see our weakness, to see are lacking, to see the things that we can’t accomplish

[00:15:37] to see the time that we have planned for something that we feel like at the end of the day, we should have a product, but nothing comes. Those weaknesses when we’re depending on ourselves to be reminded that everything we have is because of him. And so we should do those things with the Lord, not by ourselves.

[00:15:57] We should do those things with his leading.

[00:15:59] Often when I look back discouraged on my day, it’s because in my own power I’m trying to accomplish. This is a lesson that is very hard to sink in to my heart. I will say that I’ve learned this lesson. actually, I was in a Bible study called rooted recently. And at the end of each semester of rooted, you’re encouraged to share a truth of where you were at before you did the session of rooted and where you are now.

[00:16:30] And the last time I went through rooted, which was probably six months ago, I shared that at the beginning of rooted, I was trying to do things in my own strength. And at the end of rooted, I’m seeing that I need to work in God’s strength.

[00:16:45] And yet I’m still six months later saying that day that I was so discouraged, I was working in my strength. I wanted to, at the end of the day, boast about what I had done, instead of let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

[00:17:01] This is a hard truth as I think back because I struggle with the things of the mundane world getting done. I struggle with, spending time doing things that will be undone. I struggle with spending my time and not holding something tangible or seeing something that I can be proud of.

[00:17:22] And I think that this has got to working in me. I think that this is God showing me that I need every day to depend on him. I need every day to trust him for the good gifts to be reminded that just because I know him does not mean I, all of a sudden can step into creating the good gifts myself. And when I find myself there, I need to turn back again to him, to boast in what God is doing.

[00:17:49] I just love how God uses

[00:17:51] wherever we are in his word to encourage our hearts. I’ve been reading through the Psalms on weekdays with my son one Psalm a day before he goes to school and as God’s plan would have it this morning, I found myself in Psalm one 16. And I want to go ahead and read that to you guys, Psalm one 16. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy, because he has inclined his ear to me. Therefore, I will call on the Lord. As long as I live,

[00:18:23] You may at first glance, wonder what does this Psalm have to do with finding our identity in what we have achieved or feeling poorly about our identity or value when we have not achieved or when we’ve made mistakes. When I read the Psalm this morning with my son, I was reminded that in my heart, I had cried out to the Lord. I had cried out in my distress of not feeling enough and feeling like I wasted my time.

[00:18:51] God heard my voice, he heard my cry for mercy.

[00:18:57] Look at verse five, it says gracious is the Lord and righteous. Our God is merciful.

[00:19:04] That word merciful, and a lot of translations is translated. Compassionate. And that word is actually the word rachum, you may remember in one of the season one episodes where we talked a lot about this word, rachum which means to love to have compassion. It’s this active compassion of our Lord. God. I’ll put a link so you can go back and listen to that in detail.

[00:19:33] I felt God’s compassion as I look back and how I felt last week. I realize it is not God’s plan for me to boast in my successes, nor is it his plan for me to feel weighed down in my lack of successes or lack of achievements. Verse six says the Lord preserves.

[00:19:57] The simple, when I was brought low, he saved me.

[00:20:01] And this reminds me of how sometimes for me, often I need to be brought up. To see how much I need God, because even though I am following after Christ, even though I am seeking after him, it is easy to take my eyes off of what God is doing in my life. And to put my eyes on what I am doing in my life and what I am accomplishing or what I am not accomplishing.

[00:20:27] So having a day that feels frustrating that I accomplished nothing and I’m not content with that day. I think it’s, God’s grace and mercy in my life. I think it’s me seeing my weakness and God’s greatness. And I think that, that is an example of being brought low to say for God, does not judge me in the lack of accomplishments, but instead Tells me to cry out to him.

[00:20:56] To meet me in that place of feeling not enough. And then look at the next first verse seven, it says return, oh my soul to your rest for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. That’s what I feel like. I feel like the Lord has dealt bountifully with me in showing me that I can’t always accomplish. I can’t always produce the things that I want to do. I can’t always make the outcome that I want to come, but I can trust him. I can return to that rest that my God. It’s compassionate and righteous and gracious.

[00:21:34] God has saved my soul. I think in those moments where we are low, whether it’s for the first time or whether we have found ourselves there again. And again, it shows us our need for saving. Because I could find myself in despair. I could find myself in discouragement because I’m not enough because I’m not meeting up to the standard that I want to meet up to.

[00:22:00] But I think it’s because of the presence of God, we can remember that he has ordained our steps. He has prepared the steps for us to walk in them. Because I can remember that I can turn and I can return to the rest. I can return to remembering that God is with me.

[00:22:20] And you’re invited there to friends to turn and remember that God is with us in each moment.

[00:22:27] And we can rest that he has the steps planned out for us.

[00:22:32] In fact, let’s keep reading again. Verse eight says for you have delivered my soul from death. My eyes from tears, I feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

[00:22:46] It’s telling us to walk before him to take the steps and friends over and over and over. I will remind you that Ephesians two 10 says for, we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So, yes, we’re going to walk before the Lord. In the land of the living and he has prepared those steps for us. And we can trust him to do that.

[00:23:17] I wanted to share a story two days ago was the day that I felt very unaccomplished. I spent the whole day and I did a lot of things, but they turned out to be things that you don’t really notice, there’s nothing on paper or nothing cleaned up or.

[00:23:35] no exciting dinner prepared. So then yesterday As I was still working through this feeling of discouragement and not accomplishing and trusting myself and trying to accomplish and check things off my list. I decided there needed to be tangible things that I could check off the list. And I had my list of all the tangible things I would see at the end of the day. I found myself at target much later than I wanted to be there in a much tighter time schedule because of pickups for school and all the errands that needed to be run. And as I was right about to leave target, I rounded a corner and there was a young mom who is new to my church who doesn’t know a lot of people.

[00:24:20] And as I turned the corner, I reached out re-introduced myself and her face lit up. Her face lit up in that I recognized her. I knew who she was. I stopped to take the time to talk to her. And I could see her demeanor change in that moment. And it was a moment where I was reminded

[00:24:40] that God had me in that moment. He had ordained for me to be there in that moment. He had ordained for me to be feeling low the day before and feeling like I have to have a plan. I have to check everything off the list. It has to look the way that I want it to look.

[00:24:57] But I was reminded that even my best plans

[00:25:01] do not compare to the plans of my God.

[00:25:04] I can’t plan out my life like that.

[00:25:08] I can only walk in the steps that he has for me. we can make plans. We can have on our list, all the things that we need to accomplish, and we can have a great plan for what we are going to do. But when we let God be the one who is doing things, he lines up my route and target, he lines up a person’s route in.

[00:25:31] And he allowed me to stand in that spot in that moment and watch someone’s face brighten because they needed to be encouraged. So I will boast in my Lord.

[00:25:44] And I encourage you to look for where you see God working in your life and the plans you could not have lined up. And the things that you could not have worked out in your weaknesses, but you can boast and say, this is God’s showing up for me.

[00:26:01] And every moment he shows up for me, but often we don’t have eyes to.

[00:26:08] Friend. What is your next step to trusting the Lord? And as I’ve mentioned before that next step does not have to be the thing that you will do for the Lord. maybe your next step is turning back to God and saying, God, I want to step in your strength.

[00:26:28] I want to be reminded that you have my next step prepared for me, and I want to trust you for it.

[00:26:36] Today. We’re going to look at one more passage. This verse talks a little bit

[00:26:41] about how we shouldn’t let our works. We shouldn’t let our accomplishments

[00:26:45] or

[00:26:45] the things that we do weigh us down. Bolster us up in this way,

[00:26:51] as it talks about our works and the things that we do, it’s reminding us that we have a gift from God and it’s not earned. It’s something that we’ve been given.

[00:27:06] We’re going to read that verse that I read over and over Ephesians two 10 in context.

[00:27:12] Friends. I’m going to start reading in verse four. ” But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ for by grace, you have been saved through faith. This is not of your own doing it is the gift of God.

[00:27:32] Not a result of works so that no one may boast for. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

[00:27:45] friends. We have not been saved because of the things that we do.

[00:27:50] We are not great because of the things that we do, because we all carry with us sin this passage in Ephesians. If you look back at the beginning of the passage, it talks more about the sin in our hearts and how we deserve punishment.

[00:28:06] if you have questions about that, I encourage you to reach out to me, DM me on Instagram. You can also reply to my email if you’re a subscriber.

[00:28:17] But again, we’re reminded that what we’ve been given are gifts, every good and perfect gift is from above. And it is God’s gift of grace that saves us.

[00:28:28] For by grace, you have been saved through faith. This is not of your doing it is a gift of God. It’s not a result of works so that no one may boast

[00:28:39] friends.

[00:28:41] We don’t have to have something accomplished at the end of the day to boast in.

[00:28:45] We don’t have to have the good works that say, look at me. I’m enough, God choose me. Because we’re not, we’re not enough. We fall short. We make mistakes. We fall into sin. It’s only by God’s gift of grace.

[00:29:02] That we accomplish that we do that. We have life and love.

[00:29:08] It’s not a result of our doing.

[00:29:11] All right back to that theme verse you guys. We are God’s workmanship. We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works, and they don’t actually come from us. They’re from his workmanship, from God working in us from God, working his grace in us. And he’s prepared them for us that we can walk in them.

[00:29:34] Give us eyes to see where you are working in us. Give us eyes to see the places that we want to claim as our good works, but we need to turn our hearts to you and confess that the good in us is your workmanship. It’s you working in us. Lord help us to boast and what you are doing in our lives, not in what we’ve done or accomplished.

[00:29:59] Give us your peace and your rest. God, because you are with us in all those moments, you are the one weaving together. The plan, a plan that we can’t even fathom.

[00:30:11] Lord may our hearts turned to praise and may we step knowing that we are always in your presence? It’s in Jesus name that I pray. Friends. Thank you so much for joining me today for this episode of steps to trusting, I would love to connect with you guys. If you want to stay connected with me, I encourage you to sign up for my newsletter, where you will receive some more behind the scenes stories, as well as updates what’s going on in my life and in the podcast. those come out approximately once a month.

[00:30:46] However, when you do sign up, you will receive that journaling resource that I talk about.

[00:30:52] I talk about it so much because for me it has always been a struggle to wonder, what does God want me to do? What are the good works that he has for me to walk in and that resource points. You took God’s word. And I believe wherever we look in God’s word, we will find a step that he has for us to walk in.

[00:31:14] Not something that we have to accomplish or something that we want to boast in,

[00:31:18] but a gift of God’s grace in our lives, a gift of the sanctification that he is working in. Friends, I encourage you to go ahead and sign up for my newsletter. Will you’ll receive that in your inbox. Don’t forget to check your junk mail. Cause I’ve noticed the first couple of times people get the email, it does go to junk mail.

[00:31:38] So mark it as something that you want to see. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook at steps to trusting There’s always important things in the show notes and I don’t always take the time to tell you, but there are reminders of the verses that we covered and journaling questions for you to go through and process what you are learning process.

[00:32:03] What is God’s next step for you? Just a reminder. We don’t want to look for those steps of accomplishment, but for those steps of trust. Friends, if you enjoyed the show, Would you share it with a friend

[00:32:16] or leave me a review of what you’re learning? It encourages my heart. And also it helps other people to find the show so that more people can be encouraged. Don’t forget to like, and subscribe. And as I said, share with a friend, I hope to see you back here next time, where will you will be talking with Suzette Suzette is discussing with us some of the works that God laid out in front of her. And some of the ways that he prepared her path for something that seemed very challenging. And she confessed that every day, there is a need for her to turn back to trust God in this situation, he has put her in.

[00:33:00] So friends, if you find yourself struggling to trust that God has put you in the situation that he has put you in, or that he has planned the works that you are to walk in.

[00:33:12] Then, please join us back here next time but until then, I want to leave you with this reminder from Ephesians two 10 for we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, friends and praying for you. As you keep on stepping.