Created in His Image, Living in His Purpose

There are seasons when I find myself measuring life by what I have accomplished, what I still need to fix, or what I believe should have happened by now. I can look at the unfinished places and allow them to become a measuring stick for how well I am doing. But Genesis takes me back to something much more foundational. Before there was anything for humanity to accomplish, there was identity.

Genesis 1:27 tells us, “So God created man in his own image.” Then, in the very next verse, Scripture says, “And God blessed them.” I love the order of those words. God created them. God blessed them. Then God gave them their assignment.

The blessing came before the doing.

Adam and Eve had not built anything. They had not proven themselves. They had not completed a list of responsibilities or demonstrated how productive they could be. Their worth was established by the One who created them, not by what they accomplished for Him.

I need that reminder more often than I would like to admit.

When Doing Becomes the Measure

I am a doer by nature. I like a plan. I like progress. I like to see things moving in the right direction. When there is a problem, my mind

immediately starts looking for a solution. There is nothing wrong with being responsible or working hard, but somewhere along the way, doing can quietly become striving.

And striving is exhausting.

When my mind will not slow down, when circumstances are outside of my control, or when I am waiting on something I cannot make happen myself, I can begin to feel as though I should be doing more. Surely there is something else I can fix, arrange, plan, or accomplish.

But Genesis reminds me that my first responsibility is not to prove myself. It is to remember who I am.

I am created by God.

I am made in His image.

I am blessed by Him.

And from that identity, I can faithfully live the life He has placed in my hands.

Purpose Is Different From Pressure

After God blessed Adam and Eve, He gave them purpose. He told them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and care for His creation. Their lives had responsibility, but that responsibility flowed from blessing.

There is such a difference between living with purpose and living under pressure.

Pressure tells me everything depends on me. Purpose reminds me that God has entrusted something to me.

Pressure says I need to control the outcome. Purpose asks me to faithfully steward what God has placed in my hands.

Pressure makes me look at what everyone else is doing. Purpose brings my attention back to what God has asked of me.

Maybe some of our exhaustion comes from trying to carry things God never asked us to control.

Remember Who You Are

There will always be something unfinished. There will always be another decision to make, another problem that needs attention, another unknown around the corner. Life does not suddenly become completely settled.

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But perhaps peace does not come from finally getting everything settled.

Perhaps peace comes from becoming settled in who God is and who we are because of Him.

When my thoughts begin racing toward everything I cannot fix, I want to learn to become still long enough to remember. Before I am a wife, mother, grandmother, friend, employee, leader, writer, or anything else I may be called to do, I am His.

Created in His image.

Known by Him.

Loved by Him.

Blessed by Him.

That truth does not change when circumstances do.

I do not have to strive for the blessing of a God who has already chosen to bless me with His presence. I do not have to earn an identity He has already given me. And I do not have to control every part of my life to trust the One who created it.

Today, I want to faithfully use what He has placed in my hands and trust Him with what He has not.

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When my mind will not slow down, I want to be still.

When situations arise that I cannot fix, I want to remember.

When I begin measuring myself by productivity, progress, or circumstances, I want to return to the beginning.

God created me. God blessed me. God gave me purpose.

And maybe that is where rest begins.

A Time to Reflect

Find a quiet place today and sit with Genesis 1:27–28 for a few minutes. Instead of beginning with everything you need to accomplish, begin with what God says is already true.

What am I trying to control right now that I need to place back into God’s hands?

Have I been measuring my worth by what I accomplish rather than remembering who I am in Him?

What has God already placed in my hands that I can faithfully steward today?

Where do I need to stop striving and simply trust?

Write this somewhere you will see it:

I was created in His image. I am loved and blessed by Him. I can faithfully live my purpose without striving to control the outcome.

Lord, when my mind will not slow down and I am faced with situations I cannot fix, remind me to be still with You. Remind me who You are and who I am because You created me. Help me live faithfully with what You have placed in my hands and leave the outcome with You. Quiet my heart when I begin to strive, and teach me to live from Your blessing instead of working for it. Amen.

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God Created Seasons. I Can Trust Him With Mine.

God Created Seasons. I Can Trust Him With Mine.

Learning to trust the God who created every season, even when I do not understand my own.

There is something about the changing of seasons that reminds me of the faithfulness of God. Summer slowly gives way to fall. The days become shorter, the air begins to change, and eventually the trees release the leaves they once worked so hard to grow. None of it happens all at once. There is a rhythm to it, an order that was established long before we were here to notice it.

Genesis tells us that this rhythm was part of God’s plan from the beginning.

In Genesis 1:14, God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.”

God created seasons.

That seems like such a simple truth, but lately I have found myself thinking about what it means for my own life. The God who created the seasons of the earth is also the God I trust with the seasons of my life.

And some seasons are much easier to trust Him with than others.

There Is an Order I Cannot Always See

When I read the creation story in Genesis, I notice how intentional God is. He separates light from darkness. He establishes morning and evening. He places the sun, moon, and stars exactly where they need to be. There is movement and change, but there is also order. 

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Nothing is random.

I need that reminder because life does not always feel orderly from where I am standing. There are times when I can clearly see what God is doing, and there are other times when I cannot see much of anything. I find myself wondering when something will change, when an answer will come, or when the next chapter will finally begin.

I like answers. I like plans. I like knowing how the pieces are going to come together. When something feels unresolved, my natural response is to start looking for a solution.

But there are circumstances I cannot fix and seasons I cannot hurry.

Perhaps part of trusting God is learning to remain present with Him while I wait.

I Don’t Have to Understand the Season to Trust God

I wrote a simple sentence beside this passage in my Bible:

God created seasons. I can trust Him with mine.

I want to remember that.

There are seasons when life feels full and exciting, when prayers are being answered and doors are opening. There are also seasons of waiting, uncertainty, loss, rebuilding, and beginning again. Sometimes we recognize the season we are in. Other times, we are simply trying to understand what God is doing in the middle of it.

My tendency is to look ahead. I want to know what is coming next and how everything is going to work out. Yet God does not always show me the next season while I am still living in this one.

Maybe He is asking me to stop looking so far ahead that I miss where He is meeting me today.

Trust does not require me to know what happens next. Trust asks me to remember who God is when I do not know.

He is still faithful.

He is still present.

He is still God.

There Is Purpose Here, Too

One of the hardest things about waiting is believing that something meaningful can still be happening when nothing appears to be changing.

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We tend to recognize growth when we can see it. We notice the flower after it blooms, the tree after its branches are full, or the harvest when it is finally ready. We do not always notice what is happening beneath the surface.

Our lives can be that way, too.

A quiet season is not necessarily an empty season. A waiting season is not necessarily a wasted season. God may be doing some of His deepest work in places I cannot yet see.

That does not mean every painful circumstance is something God caused or something I have to pretend is good. Life can be difficult. Loss is real. Disappointment hurts. Waiting can be exhausting.

But none of those things mean God has left.

He can meet me here. He can teach me here. He can strengthen my faith here. He can prepare something in me before He changes something around me.

Stop Trying to Live in the Next Season

Sometimes I realize that I am physically living in one season while mentally living in another.

I am thinking about what needs to happen next. I am trying to solve tomorrow’s problems. I am imagining conversations that have not happened and circumstances that have not arrived. Before long, I have carried myself so far into the future that I have missed the grace God has given me for today.

I do not want to live that way.

I want to learn to be present with God in the season I am actually in.

When my mind begins to race toward everything I cannot control, I want to return to what I know. God is Creator. I am His child. He sees what I cannot see, knows what I do not know, and is already present in the tomorrow I keep trying to figure out.

There is freedom in remembering that.

I do not have to force the next chapter. I do not have to make everything happen on my timeline. I can make wise decisions, take the next step God places in front of me, and leave room for Him to work in ways I could never arrange for myself.

The Seasons Will Change

No season lasts forever. The leave eventually fall. Winter comes. Spring returns. New growth appears in places that once looked bare. Creation continually reminds us that change is part of the rhythm God established. 

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I think sometimes I need to look outside and remember that.

If God can be trusted with the changing of the seasons, I can trust Him when mine begins to change, too. And until it does, I can trust Him right here.

I do not know everything God is doing in this season of my life. I do not know exactly when certain answers will come or what some of those answers will look like.

But I know more about who God is than I know about what happens next.

For today, that is enough.

God created seasons. I can trust Him with mine.

A Prayer for This Season

Dear God,

Thank You for being the God of every season. Thank You for reminding me through Your creation that You are intentional, faithful, and present.

Help me not to become so focused on what is coming next that I miss You in what is happening now. When I want answers, remind me that I can trust Your character. When I try to control circumstances that are beyond me, help me release them into Your hands.

Teach me to recognize what You are doing in this season, even when the growth is happening beneath the surface. Give me wisdom for the steps that are mine to take and peace about the things that are not mine to control.

When my mind will not slow down and situations arise that I cannot fix, bring me back to who You are and who I am.

You are God.

I am Your child.

And I can trust You with this season.

Amen.

Reflection Time

Before moving on with your day, take a few quiet minutes with God. Think about the season you are actually living in right now, not the one you wish you were in or the one you hope is coming next.

How would you describe your current season?

What are you trying to hurry, fix, or control that may need to be placed back into God’s hands?

Are you so focused on what comes next that you are missing something God is doing today?

Where might growth be happening beneath the surface, even though you cannot see the results yet?

What does Genesis 1:14 remind you about the character of God?

Finally, write this somewhere you will see it this week:

God created seasons. I can trust Him with mine.

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