Because you love God, you don’t just feel tired, you feel guilty for being tired. You start thinking: “Maybe God is waiting for me to get it together.” “Maybe the blessing is delayed because I’m not disciplined enough.” “Maybe I’m not doing enough to deserve His favor.” That mindset is heavy. It turns prayer into pressure and it turns faith into a performance.
But grace speaks a different language: God blesses not because we are perfect, but because He is good. God’s goodness isn’t like a reward program where you rack up points for being holy enough. God’s goodness is His nature. It’s who He is when you’re strong. Its who He is when you’re barely holding it together. His love doesn’t rise and fall with your mood, your record, or your “best week.”
God calls us to grow. But He does not bless us because we never stumbled. He blesses us because He is faithful, and His mercy meets us while we’re becoming.
The Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the story of a son who left home and made a mess of his life. When he finally came to himself, he started rehearsing a speech, because shame always thinks it needs a script. He expected punishment. A lecture. A cold shoulder. He thought he might have to earn his way back in small pieces. He thought he would have to prove he was sorry, prove he had changed, prove he deserved to stand in the doorway again.
But while the son was still a long way off, the father saw him and ran to him.
The father didn’t say, “We’ll talk once you’re cleaned up.” He didn’t say, “Let me see how consistent you are first.” He didn’t say, “You can come back, but you’re on probation.” He restored him before he could explain himself. He covered him before he could fix himself.
He celebrated him before he could prove himself. That is not how offended people act. That is how a good father act. That’s grace.
For the woman who feels like she’s always “not enough,” this story whispers: God is not withholding Himself until you are flawless. He is welcoming you while you are still learning. God’s goodness is like the sun. You don’t wake up and negotiate for daylight. You don’t earn the sunrise with yesterday’s perfection. It rises because it is the sun’s nature to shine. In the same way, blessing flows from God because it is His nature to be good. When you can’t see it, when clouds of shame, stress, or sorrow move in, His goodness hasn’t disappeared. It’s still there, steady above the weather.
God’s blessing isn’t earned.....it's received. You do not have to be perfect to be loved. God is good, even while you are growing. His Grace is meeting you right here, right now.
Prayer:
Father, I’ve been carrying the weight of trying to deserve what You freely give. Forgive me for turning faith into a performance and prayer into pressure. Thank You that Your goodness is not dependent on my perfection. Help me to grow, but let me grow from a place of being loved, not from fear of being rejected. Teach me to receive Your grace with humility and to rest in Your steady heart.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
