Strength for Today

Week Four: You Were Never Meant to Carry It All

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” ~Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned how to say two little words remarkably well:

“I’m fine.”

We’re fine when we’re tired.

Fine when we’re worried.

Fine when our hearts are hurting.

Fine when we’re holding together a dozen things behind the scenes that nobody else knows about.

Someone asks, “How are you?” and almost automatically we say: “I’m fine.”

But sometimes we’re not. Sometimes we’re weary. Sometimes the weight we’ve been carrying has become heavier than we want to admit; and sometimes we’ve become so accustomed to carrying it that we’ve forgotten something incredibly important:

God never asked us to carry everything ourselves.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.

There is a difference between being strong and pretending we don’t need help.
There is a difference between perseverance and carrying burdens God has been asking us to place into His hands.
There is a difference between trusting God and believing we have to keep everything from falling apart ourselves.

I wonder how many of us are exhausted not simply because life is difficult, but because we’re trying to carry things we were never meant to carry alone.

The future.

Our families.

Our finances.

Our health.

Our children.

Other people’s expectations.

Things we wish we could change.

Things we cannot control.

Questions we cannot answer.

We carry yesterday’s regrets and tomorrow’s worries while trying to somehow manage everything today. Jesus says something so simple that we can almost miss how extraordinary it is: “Come to me.”

Not “Get yourself together first.”
Not “Figure everything out.”
Not “Try harder.”
Not even “Be stronger.”

Just… Come.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

I love that Jesus doesn’t shame the weary. He invites them closer. He doesn’t look at our exhaustion and ask why we couldn’t handle more. He doesn’t tell us we should have stronger faith. He offers Himself.

Perhaps someone needs to hear that today.

You are allowed to be weary.

You are allowed to admit that something is heavy.

You are allowed to say, “Lord, I don’t know how to carry this anymore.”

You see, surrender isn’t weakness. Surrender is recognizing that the burden was never yours to carry without Him.

Here’s where surrender gets difficult.

We can give something to God in prayer and pick it right back up five minutes later. Have you ever done that? Lord, I give this to You. Amen, and then we worry about it. Analyze it. Google it. Replay every possible outcome. Try to fix it. Lose sleep over it, and before we know it, we’re carrying the very thing we placed at His feet that morning.

I’ve done it more times than I’d like to admit.

Maybe surrender isn’t always one dramatic moment. Maybe sometimes surrender is something we have to choose again and again.

Lord, I’m picking this up again. Help me put it back down.

Again, and again, and again, until slowly, our clenched hands begin to open.

There’s another Scripture I love.

1 Peter 5:7 says: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Not some of it – but All of it.

The big things.

The small things.

The thing you’ve prayed about a hundred times.

The thing you feel is silly mentioning.

The thing you’re afraid to say out loud.

The thing keeping you awake at 2 a.m.

The thing you can’t fix.

The thing you desperately wish you could.

Give it to Him.

Not because the situation doesn’t matter, but because you matter to Him. “Because He cares for you.”

What a beautiful reason.

God isn’t reluctantly tolerating our burdens.

He cares.

He cares about the mother lying awake worrying about her child.

He cares about the person waiting for the doctor’s call.

He cares about the marriage that’s struggling.

He cares about the bills sitting on the counter.

He cares about the dream that hasn’t happened yet.

He cares about the loneliness no one sees.

He cares about whatever you’re carrying today.

Friend, being strong doesn’t mean carrying everything without breaking. Sometimes the strongest thing we can do is finally open our hands and say: “Jesus, I need You.”

Maybe that’s the strength you need today. Not the strength to solve everything. Not the strength to know what comes next. Not even the strength to make everything okay. Just enough strength to place what you cannot carry into the hands of the One who can.

You don’t have to know what tomorrow holds.

You don’t have to have every answer tonight.

You don’t have to hold everyone together.

You don’t have to fix everything.

You simply need to remember Who is holding you.

And His hands are far stronger than yours.

This Week’s Reflection

Before you move on with your day, ask yourself: What am I carrying today that God has been asking me to give to Him?

Name it. You don’t have to make it sound spiritual. You don’t have to find beautiful words. Just tell Him.

Lord, this is heavy.

I’m tired.

I’m afraid.

I don’t know what to do.

I need You.

Then picture yourself placing that burden into His hands, and when you find yourself picking it back up tomorrow, as many of us will, give it back to Him again. Surrender is sometimes a daily decision.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father,

You see every burden we’re carrying today. You know the ones we’ve shared with others and the ones we’ve quietly carried alone. You know how long we’ve been strong. You know where we’re tired, and You know the places where we’re holding on so tightly because we’re afraid of what might happen if we let go.

Lord, teach us to surrender. Forgive us for the times we’ve tried to carry tomorrow before it arrives. Forgive us for believing everything depends upon us. Open our clenched hands and remind us that we can safely place what we love into Yours.

For the person reading this who is exhausted today, draw especially near.

For the one who doesn’t know what comes next, give peace.

For the one carrying fear, give courage.

For the one whose heart is hurting, bring comfort.

For the one who has been strong for everyone else, remind them that they don’t have to be strong here. They can simply come.

Jesus, help us lay down what we were never meant to carry alone, and when we’re tempted to pick it back up, gently remind us: You’ve got it. More importantly: You’ve got us.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

A Blessing for Your Week

May you release what you cannot control,

Trust God with what you cannot change,

And find rest in the things you do not yet understand.

May your hands loosen around the burdens you’ve been gripping so tightly.

May your heart become quiet in the presence of the One who already knows tomorrow.

When this week feels heavier than you expected, may you remember: You were never meant to carry it all. You were meant to carry it with Him.

May you find strength for today, and enough grace for tomorrow when it comes.

Until next Tuesday,

With grace, coffee & leggings,
☕ZQueenBee