Are You Carrying Too Much Weight?
I was feeling overwhelmed. Burned out. Like a failure. Hopeless. Why is life so hard?
My husband and I went for a walk to get some breathing space from the list of endless responsibilities and chaos at home. It was a beautiful night. The sky was beautiful. The temperature was perfect. It was a great night for a walk. Just the night before, God had called me to pay more attention to the beautiful miracles that surround me every day rather than staying caught up in my own head.
It’s easy to become numb to our miraculous surroundings when they are a regular backdrop every day. But think about it…what would we think of the sky if we were observing it for the first time? I remember when my daughter was about 6 months old, and she saw a dandelion for the first time. She was completely fascinated and in love with this thing that I thought of as a weed. Seeing it through her lens helped me to recognize the simple beauty in it as well. God speaks to us through His creation, but many times we miss it.
“God speaks to us through His creation, but many times we miss it.”
As my husband and I were nearing home, we saw a row of apple trees in someone’s yard. He commented that none of them were growing any apples. Then, we noticed that there was one tree in the center that was growing apples. In fact, it was growing so many apples that it was bent over and on the verge of breaking. I said, “It’s collapsing from the weight of them all!” As soon as the words left my mouth, it clicked. I was also collapsing from the weight of it all.
Like the apple tree, I am producing good fruit, but it is too much for me alone. I need to share the burden with others and with God. Too much of a good thing is still too much. I need to take a step back, rest, and trust God in my absence from some activities. Have you ever found yourself in this position? How did God get through to you?
It’s amazing how God gives us such gentle messages. He often helps us to realize and understand for ourselves rather than being direct and demanding. He knows how our minds work and that giving orders doesn’t usually get through. Giving orders is how to get us to change our behavior without changing our hearts…but God is after our hearts.
Meet the Author
Megan grew up in rural Wisconsin, where she was always known as the quiet girl with a book in her hands. Now Megan is working on her lifelong dream of becoming the author of her very own book. Out of her own struggle with trauma and mental health, she created the Jordan Crossings Blog to empower those who are healing from trauma and educate Christians on how to minister to those who are hurting.
