Burdens

I was never good at keeping up with my monthly devotionals since I can remember (13 years of inconsistency to be exact), but my mother-in-law gifted me a 365 Daily Devotions for Mothers recently and wow did God put in my heart to talk about the eye opening excerpt I witnessed that afternoon.

Burdens.

Sometimes they come in various forms such as daily responsibilities or caring for friends when their going through hardships. In cases such as these it’s easy to push through the day, say a mantra or not feel guilty for helping a friend. God actually calls us to, “Bear another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) As a mother of two, care giver, house keeper and partner I feel this weight most days, and often times I know I can handle these things with ease…

Except when I have an unladen heart for feeling the fear of the unknown. I remember many sleepless nights thinking of my past traumas while getting through my new ones and eventually got diagnosed with clinical depression affecting everyone around me. I still held on to my faith, opened up to love ones about my thoughts, still attended church and so forth but I couldn’t help but feel like I was still alone. I never knew how to unload my burdens onto Him and never witnessed at home or with my fellow believers what that actually looked liked until now.

According to A Little God Time for Mothers they say, “We will have burdens and responsibilities in life. We cannot escape that. But sometimes we are burdened with things Jesus never intended us to carry…We clearly know from scripture that Jesus’s burdens are the light ones. If he has placed it on us, we wont be consumed with its weight.” In Matthew 11:30 it states, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Often times things we cannot control or as I stated earlier, fear of the unknown, are the exact burdens Jesus tells us not to carry. Now when I have the urge to control a circumstance because the consignment is too heavy, or I feel the need to crawl back into my shell, I say a little prayer to help me remember that this is not my affliction to carry, since Jesus had carried it for us on the cross.

Prayer: Lord, I know you see what I’m conflicted with and I don’t want to carry it any longer. Help me to release this burden and give me the strength and peace to get through this. In Jesus name, Amen!