What's Weighing Me Down?

Recently, at our church’s Ladies’ Conference, I had the opportunity to share my testimony.  I had done this in the past, but it had been a while.  The other times that I had done this, I shared about how God had used specific situations to teach me something about Him.  This time was different.  I was not talking about some specific tragic circumstance.  I was just talking about real life.  Although we will all experience some sort of tragic or dramatic circumstance at some point, we encounter real life every day.  I shared some of the highlights of how I came to write this blog – but of course, there’s never enough time to go into everything.  Besides, who really wants to listen to me talk for hours? J

I have been humbled by the response that I received.  Ladies of all ages, with varying life circumstances have come to me saying things like, “That is exactly what I needed!”  “That is how I feel right now – overwhelmed with life.”  “I, too, struggle with dealing with ‘too much to do’.  How do you handle that?”  “I had no idea that someone was like me.”  “I didn’t know that about you!”

Well, let me tell you….I’m a work in progress, but I am so excited that God is able to help with all of the overwhelming circumstances of life. 

Since our conference, my mind has been reeling…I have so many thoughts swirling around in there!  I want to share what God is teaching me, but I want to do it a bit at a time.  Honestly, right now, I feel like I’m trying to drink water from a fire hydrant.  Hopefully, you will be able to follow my randomness and be encouraged.

The sin that weighs me down.

I try not to get so specific about circumstances because I never want anyone to say, “That’s not for me because my situation is different.”  God’s Word is for all of life.  We can learn from each other and have things in common with each other, even when our circumstances are not identical or even similar.

It struck me that in Hebrews 12:1, we are told to lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.  Notice that no specific weight or sin is named.  It doesn’t even say, “If you have a weight or sin, just go ahead and set that aside.”  It says to lay aside every weight, and the sin….  We have weights and sins that beset us.  We just do.  We are all sinners, right?  Then we better be finding what it is that we need to lay aside!  What weighs me down?  Anxiety, Pressures of life – mostly self-imposed, Fear – of the unknown, of what others think, of failure; Pride – thinking that everything revolves around me.  That’s just the tip of the iceberg!

I’ll be honest.  For years, I read that verse and thought to myself, “I really can’t think of anything that weighs me down.  I don’t really have any besetting sins.”  I was crazy!!  (I know, some of you already knew that about me!)  REALLY??  No sins weighing me down? 

I couldn’t see that I was being weighed down at all.  After all, life was pretty good.  I generally had everything working out for me.  (When I think about this, I go all the way back to when I was in high school, because that really shaped how I approached life.)  I made good grades.  I was pretty good at sports and cheerleading.  I didn’t get into trouble.  I knew all the right answers.  I went off to college.  I had to work a little harder, but everything went along smoothly.  I met my husband within 24hrs of being on campus (of course, I had no idea that he was going to be my husband).  I graduated; got married a year later; got a corporate job and moved up quickly….life was humming right along.  I was handling life just fine.  Of course, God was there too, but I think I thought of Him more as “along for the ride” rather than my actual mode of transportation.

THEN…premature baby, juggling baby and working full-time, baby #2, now juggling 2 children and working full-time, began working part-time (took a HUGE cut in salary), now financial pressures are there that I didn’t have before, baby #3 (unexpected pregnancy, another premature delivery)…..these are just a few major highlights.  My point is this:  Difficult circumstances began to expose my weaknesses – my weights and besetting sins.  There is only so much that I can do on my own.  I am so much better off when I am totally dependent on God and His plan, rather than trying to handle it on my own.

How to handle these weaknesses?  These weights and sins that beset us?

Stay tuned…

Bless Your Gizzard!

If you are familiar with Beneth Jones, you know that she loves to "Bless your gizzard!"  Today we had our annual ladies’ conference at our church, and she was our speaker.  I always enjoy her because she is just so down-to-earth.  Our schedule included three main sessions—the first and last by Beneth (I’m not being disrespectful—she insisted that we use her first name. J ).  The middle session included testimonies by another lady in our church and me.

As Beneth talked during that first session, I sat there amazed--God is so amazing!!  Everything she was saying was tying directly to what I had planned to say today.  I was giddy on the inside—I love it when God’s direction is so glaringly evident!  THEN Sharon gave her testimony—she used some of the same verses that I had planned to use!  I was just overwhelmed at how God had divinely directed our thoughts so that everything tied so perfectly together!  Although the overall content was very different, the same biblical principles were woven throughout.

 

I won’t re-tell everything here.  I just wanted to briefly share that I was encouraged today.  It's always good to be reminded that we are not alone in our struggles. 

I received a blessing….and so did my gizzard!  J