Just Breath: Letting God Do the Heavy Lifting
There is a song that I love that is called "Breath" by one of my favorite Christian artists; Jonny Diaz. I often recall this song when I am feeling particularly stressed in life, which seems to be frequently in the past several weeks. Spring is really a difficult time of year concerning my depression, it is also full of the bustle of end of the school year wrap up at both work and home. At home the kids are anxious to get out of school for the next three months, they have plans they want to see come to fruition, and their attitudes become one of inpatient. Working at a school means that I am also dealing with inpatient from the Middle Schoolers around me. Our stock is running low on some of their favorite items because we don't want to over-order, the kitchen staff is trying to order what we need without ordering too much, and we are trying to schedule a good time to shut down the kitchen for the summer, as well as fighting our own anxiety for some much needed time off. This spring has been particularly difficult in the Middle School kitchen as we have been working two-three employees down quite frequently, heightening our sense of urgency to see the school year come to an end.
All this stress often builds up to the point I want to boil over. I just want to allow the tide of stress to overtake me and push me to act much like a two year old child in the midst of the meltdown. Which, if you have ever seen me have a meltdown, is something no one should ever be subject to. I am sure; or at least I hope, that I am not the only one who suffers from this type of reaction to stress and I know exactly why anyone does. We simply forget to "breath". We forget that we are not intended to stumble through life alone, held captive by our emotions. We forget that all our anxieties, fears, and complaining will not change anything in our lives. We try to grasp at control when man's control over the world and what occurs in it, simply does not exist. We try so hard to keep everything in our world in the order we want to, to accomplish our goals in our time, and receive the approval of others that we don't remember to "breath" and allow God to do His work.
Even as a Christian, I have been slow to learn that God not only can do the heavy lifting in my life, He wants to. By "heavy lifting" I don't mean physical labor. Though God does provide us physical strength, He does expect us to not be lazy. I am talking about emotional heavy lifting. God's Word is full of His desire to help us through our darkest hours. One of the most recognized verses concerning God's desire to bear our burdens is found in Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Another familiar verse on the same theme is found in 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your cares upon him; for he careth for you."
Our cares, our burdens, our heavy loads are more than you can bare. God knows that and He wants us to give them to Him. He does not say, "share your burden with me," or "it's 50/50." No, He wants us to completely, totally, 100%, surrender it all to Him. No exceptions, no excuses. And what does He expect us to do? What does He want in return? Our faith that He will take care of us! That's all. Just believe, then sit back, relax, and just breath!
All this stress often builds up to the point I want to boil over. I just want to allow the tide of stress to overtake me and push me to act much like a two year old child in the midst of the meltdown. Which, if you have ever seen me have a meltdown, is something no one should ever be subject to. I am sure; or at least I hope, that I am not the only one who suffers from this type of reaction to stress and I know exactly why anyone does. We simply forget to "breath". We forget that we are not intended to stumble through life alone, held captive by our emotions. We forget that all our anxieties, fears, and complaining will not change anything in our lives. We try to grasp at control when man's control over the world and what occurs in it, simply does not exist. We try so hard to keep everything in our world in the order we want to, to accomplish our goals in our time, and receive the approval of others that we don't remember to "breath" and allow God to do His work.
Even as a Christian, I have been slow to learn that God not only can do the heavy lifting in my life, He wants to. By "heavy lifting" I don't mean physical labor. Though God does provide us physical strength, He does expect us to not be lazy. I am talking about emotional heavy lifting. God's Word is full of His desire to help us through our darkest hours. One of the most recognized verses concerning God's desire to bear our burdens is found in Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Another familiar verse on the same theme is found in 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your cares upon him; for he careth for you."
Our cares, our burdens, our heavy loads are more than you can bare. God knows that and He wants us to give them to Him. He does not say, "share your burden with me," or "it's 50/50." No, He wants us to completely, totally, 100%, surrender it all to Him. No exceptions, no excuses. And what does He expect us to do? What does He want in return? Our faith that He will take care of us! That's all. Just believe, then sit back, relax, and just breath!
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