The Sacrifices God Never Asked For

Why your calling shouldn’t cost you what God gave you to protect.

I don’t pay a bunch of attention to the marketing emails that come through my inbox. But the other day, I got one that stopped me in my tracks. The subject line read: “The belief I inherited—and had to unlearn”. But it was what the belief was that shook me. Here’s what I read:

“We don’t just inherit habits. We inherit beliefs. And for a long time, I carried one I didn’t even know was there: Success always requires sacrifice. If you’d asked me, I wouldn’t have said it that way. But it was the belief behind my decisions. The reason I said yes too often, worked too late, and kept putting off the parts of life that made me feel most like myself. The problem? That belief wasn’t wrong in theory. But it was misapplied in practice. Yes, success takes effort. But it shouldn’t cost you your presence, your peace, or your ability to enjoy the life you’re building.” - Megan Hyatt Miller

I got that email about a month ago, and at first I scratched my head. What does she mean? Is she saying success doesn’t require sacrifice? Over the last month, I mulled on this idea. I began to realize what she was getting at. The lie is that we need to sacrifice God given privileges, responsibilities, and callings. I realized that I’ve fallen for this lie, just like Megan had. Success does require sacrifice. But Godly success doesn’t ask us to sacrifice clear responsibilities that God has given us to steward and protect.

A quick preview of my time in entrepreneurship would show you how strongly I’ve believed this lie-

I thought I needed to wait for my business to take off before exercising regularly.

I thought I needed to wait for my business to take off before I really began educating my kids.

I thought I needed to wait for my business to take off before I really paid attention to finances.

I thought I needed to wait for my business to take off before I really took care of my health.

We are conditioned to think this way because that’s how sin works. Sin asks us to sacrifice things we should never have to sacrifice in order to make just one step forward toward our desires. We see that rationale present in the garden - “sacrifice obedience to God so you can get the knowledge of good and evil”.

We pay sin’s exorbitant prices every time we sin. And we think that’s just how it is. We think that every step forward will cost us everything. And every time we barter with sin, we take the L. Psalm 16 points out how hard life is for those who do business with sin:

“The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply.” Psalm 16:4

Sin is costly. It promises much and delivers little. As C.S. Lewis once said, “they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers.” C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

We are used to the economy of sin and idolatry. We are used to living on scraps of happiness. We are used to being charged exorbitant prices for trash food. But the prophet Isaiah slaps us in the face with the shocking good news of grace:

“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.” Isaiah 55:2

We don’t have to pay sin’s prices. We don’t have to sacrifice our family time or relationships for business success. We don’t have to sacrifice sleep, and eventually our health in order to “get ahead”. We don’t have to sacrifice Christian friendships and community to make our business successful. That’s the world’s economy, not ours. We serve a God who gives us abundant life.

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Cor 9:8

Our problem, to appropriate a phrase from Chesterton, isn’t that God’s generosity has been tried and found wanting, but rather that it has not been tried at all. We simply do not believe that God is really what He says He is. We cannot believe that God would give us things that we haven’t paid dearly for, because we are used to the economy of idolatry. It makes sense to us that in order to get ahead in one area, that we need to sacrifice others. But God’s economy doesn’t make sense. That’s why grace is astounding.

So I hope this week that you and I, together, will look more expectantly to God to supply what our business needs. That we will believe Him when He says that when we are faithful with little, we are given more. We are stewards, not slaves. We don’t have to sacrifice anything God has entrusted to our care in order to make it in another area. That’s just not how He works. He is not Pharoah, who asks us to make more bricks with less straw.

As we move into our week, let’s pray over where we have fallen prey to this lie. Where have we thought God was asking more of us than we could actually give? Where do we feel like He wants bricks without straw? Where are we making sacrifices He never asked us to make?

Lastly, let me leave you with this beautiful verse from Isaiah 46:

“…their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.  ****“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” - Isaiah 46:1-4

We have to carry our idols.

But the Lord carries us.