Flashback Friday: Nothing to Prove

“How sweet is your name, Lord, how good You are
Love to sing in the name of the Lord, love to sing for you all?
Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You
You silenced the boast, of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring, the praise of Your glory
For You are raised to life again”
<b>What a Beautiful Name
Hillsong Worship</b>

Have you ever felt the need to prove yourself? That’s probably a silly question. We all doubt ourselves at some point. But, I have to ask, because many of us live out each day trying to prove something to someone without even realizing we are doing it. We get stuck in the endless cycle of not-good-enough and fall into the trap of striving towards the unattainable and that which was not meant for us.

Have you ever…
-felt like an outcast
-doubted your ability
-convinced yourself there was no way you could do something
-felt unworthy
-felt too fat, too skinny, too shy, too loud, too dumb, too smart, too ugly
-felt like you don’t fit the mold so you must not fit in
-seen someone else achieve the dream you have crushing all your hopes
-felt like you will never measure up

I have felt all those things and more. I am a pretty competitive person. Tell me I can’t do something and that usually ignites a fire inside me to prove you wrong. Not to shove it in your face that I can do what you say I cannot. Rather, it’s to prove to myself that I can; that I am stronger than I think I am. However, this does not limit me from not feeling good enough; from skirting the constant desire to prove myself.

Most of us Christians know in our heads that our value and worth do not lie in this world. Society and culture do not dictate our confidence. Yet, so many of us, most of us, live like we believe Christ as our confidence. We live in a constant state of proving and it’s time we are done.

I love the song, “What a Beautiful Name,” by Hillsong Worship. It is a simple, yet powerful, message of the glory of God. One portion of the song pierced my soul deep. The lyrics say, “You silenced the boast, of sin and grave.” This right here about did me in.

I know Easter has passed, but give me a moment to head back there and talk for a minute about Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. You see, we have church on Friday remembering the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. It’s usually a somber service recalling the death our Savior experienced for each of us. Then, come Sunday, we celebrate jubilantly praising God for raising Jesus on that third day. We forget about Saturday. The silence of Saturday must have been deafening.

Whenever I think about that Saturday, I can’t help but wonder what the world was doing, how they were reacting, on that day. Were Jesus’ enemies rejoicing gloating over their victory? Where his followers curled up in each others homes crying and completely somber? Would there be disciples who made a fuss trying to prove that Jesus is actually who he says he is even though his body lay in a tomb? How much proving was going on from Jesus’ followers? How many of them cried out and fought to prove Jesus was the Messiah? I wonder.

This song, however, states that he silenced death and he did it without proof. Let me explain. Jesus didn’t have to resurrect on Saturday in order to hurry up and prove himself because the proof was already there: in the silence. He knew, and I believe his followers knew as well, that the silence of the grave on that Saturday only strengthened the proof of Jesus’ power. And this is where we need to live.

We are already proven. Our value, our worth, our purpose solidified. We have nothing to prove because all has already been proven thru Christ. You are good enough, worthy enough, smart enough, valuable because of Jesus. Period. No need to strive to prove how beneficial you are. You matter to the One who silenced the boast of the grave. You matter more than you could ever fathom. It’s about time we lay all the proving down and live like it.

And, when we feel like we aren’t good enough (because that is going to happen more often than not), we let him fill in the gaps like only he can. If the One who had everything to lose if he didn’t prove himself remained silent on that Saturday, than we don’t have to shout our value from the mountaintops. Let him speak for you. Let him fill in the gaps. You have nothing to prove.

Love & Blessings,
Meg