When Worry Makes Me Weary

I was so incredibly blessed by this devotional yesterday. Hope it touches you as well. I believe it pertains to so many of us.

"When Worry Makes Me Weary"

Renee Swope

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

As we drove home from a weekend in the mountains, I felt a heavy sense of dread and sadness. Laying my head back on my seat, I told my husband, J.J., "I don't want to go home."

After talking through my reasons with him, I realized the stress and strain of countless commitments - at home and work - were taking a toll on me. I just wanted to go back to the mountains where I could rest.

J.J. encouraged me to make a list of everything on my plate and ask God what I needed to cut back. At first I resented his suggestion. It felt like he'd just added one more thing I "needed to do." Yet I knew J.J. was right and eventually I made the list.

Then I asked God to show me where to make changes. Much to my surprise the changes I sensed Him leading me to make weren't in my schedule - they were in me.

God didn't show me I needed to cut back at work or in ministry. He didn't show me our kids were in too many activities. He didn't lead me to take a sabbatical, although I was kind of hoping He would.

Instead, I sensed it was worry - not my workload - that was making me weary.

I thought about the months leading up to this point and realized I'd spent almost as much time thinking and worrying about deadlines as I spent working on them. Some days my concerns about commitments and meeting people's expectations had consumed me.

I had let my mind dwell on the possible outcome of several different decisions - all at the same time - and it left me depleted mentally, emotionally and physically.

Honestly though, until I stopped and talked to God about it, I didn't recognize my mental mayhem as worry.

My mind is wired to think a lot so I'd gotten used to the constant flurry of motion in my brain. Yet anxiety had crept in slowly, causing tangles in my thoughts, a tightening in my chest, and tension in my neck. Some days I couldn't stop thinking about ALL I needed to do.

Instead of going back to the mountains to rest, I sensed God wanted me to find a resting place in His presence right in the middle of my busy life. Through today's key verse from Matthew 11:28, He invited me to come to Him with the worries that were making me weary.

Do you sense Him inviting you to come to Him today?

He promises a place to quiet your thoughts in His presence. "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'" (Ps. 91:1-2 NIV)

He offers freedom from the captivity of your concerns when you bring them to Him:"'Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. And I will lead you back from captivity.'" (Jeremiah 29:13-14 NIV)

Today, instead of letting our worries make us weary, let's respond to God's invitation and come to Him - asking, seeking and finding a resting place for our restless thoughts.

Dear Lord, when my concerns consume me, help me remember You are there inviting me to come to You and talk about all I'm thinking and doing. Show me if my workload or my worries are making me weary and help me trust You with both. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Here Renee gives some practical tips to help our weary souls :)

I Need a "Me Too"

I have been in a sort of a funk/battle over the past month. It's been tough to say the least. But honestly, it's something I have brought on myself in many ways.

Somewhere life has gotten out of balance. Somewhere I stopped listening and hearing God's voice the way I used to. I've gotten inconsistent with being in the word. I've become distracted with life. It didn't happen over night but over the course of a couple of years I would say.

On top of that I feel like I have to be strong all of the time or else something is wrong with me. Does anyone else feel that way? I feel like I should be happy all of the time because life is good. I AM SO blessed.

If I am so blessed, which I am, why does my soul feel so down trodden?

I think that has been the hardest thing to grasp these past 5 weeks that I have been on this roller coaster.

These past 5 weeks I have felt depressed, anxious, hopeless, and confused.

My life has gotten out of balance.

I have allowed anger & bitterness to get the best of me. The anger has caused a lot of anxiety. Bitterness has caused me to focus on what has been done wrong over the years and has given those things more power than seeing the blessings in my life. I've allowed times of sadness to turn into anger, instead of crying them out.

I've held things inside and remained silent all in the name of "not wanting to gossip" or be "negative".

The thing really is that I tend to deal with things alone. For as much as I want to be vulnerable and truly me, I fear what people think. I assume that if I am not strong and full of joy continuously then something is wrong with me.  But it's normal to feel. It's normal to hurt and be sad when things happen.

There's times I have been vulnerable and my words have been twisted or turned and used against me. So then I keep more inside.

Looking back on my life, when 'big things' have happened, even stemming back to my parents divorce when I was 16 years old, I have internalized my feelings & emotions. I try dealing with things on my own in my own mind rather than talk things out with trusted sources. I remember people trying to reach out to me during that time and I responded with a smile & an "I'm fine". When I was in 3rd grade a friend of mine died and I didn't even sit with my family at his funeral because I didn't want to be consoled by anyone. I just wanted to wallow alone. This habit of "I'm fine" hasn't worked well for me. So I don't really know why I do it. I don't know why I feel like needing others is weak.

It's probably a lot of pride, which I admit, is one of my biggest battles.

In my life there really has been more good than bad. But if I compare my life to many others it would 'appear' to have had more hardships & tough situations that many haven't had to ever deal with or go through. Problem in that is comparing my life to others in the first place.

So when and how did my life get so out of whack now? Even too much of a good thing can be bad. Life has gotten busy and I have consumed my mind with too many "Other" things.

I worry what people think. I feel guilty easily. I worry about others hurting others. I worry about things I can't control. And then I get anxious and my stomach gets in knots.

In this time in our lives where God is allowing a time of refreshing and rebalance I find "crap hitting the fan" in my head-internally- in my time of stillness. I've been in this place before. But that was about 15 years ago when I didn't even own a computer or have a cell phone.

So now as I get my life back in proper balance, I know I need to limit my time with social media as well, because when you are struggling and all you see in the world is how "GREAT" life appears for everyone else it's just another dagger in your funk battle. Most people only post the good and it's too easy to compare ourselves and our lives to others. Facebook and Twitter isn't reality though. Social media is filled with a lot of people pretending everything is fine.

And then there's the news and politics...Sorry friends, I just can't do it. It stresses me out and gives me anxiety about my kids' future. I've had to "hide" friends on fb who just stress me out. :)

I've had to really get back in the word. Say no to people and embrace the stillness as a time to heal and mend from life's ups & downs through the years.

Sometimes the best thing we can hear in our times of need are two powerful words... "Me Too"

I've been able to say me too to many people and I do take my battles as blessings which allow me to empathize with others. To be understanding and be a shoulder to lean on. The more you go through in life the more people you can relate to. I never want to come across as a know it all, but I do understand a lot because I've experienced a lot.

Right now, I need a shoulder. I need some "Me Too's".

To know I am not alone. To know another has been there.

I'm ready to get out of this funk. I'm ready to have joy & contentment in ALL things. But I know that a life out of balance takes time getting back on track. Even if the things we have been balancing are mostly good things. I know that "This Too Shall Pass" but it's not feeling like it will be soon enough.

Freedom From Fear

YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS SERMON SERIES. 
It's excellent. Healing. Freeing. 
http://www.moorelife.org/listseries.php?xml=rss%2FFreeFromAllFears.xml 
Commit to listen to one a day. Don't skip. And go in order.

Me Without You

Losing

"Oh, Father give me grace to forgive them, because I feel like the one losing"

...About 2:10 into the song is the best :)

"Why do we think that hate's gonna change the heart
We're up in arms over wars that don't need to be fought
Pride wont let us lay weapons on the ground
We build bridges up but just to burn them down
We think pain is owed apologies and then it'll stop
Well truth be told it doesn't matter if their sorry or not
Freedom comes when we surrender to the sound
Of mercy and Your grace, Father, send Your angels down"

The Proof of Your Love

If you haven't heard this song or paid attention to the lyrics, you must! Oh, I love it! This is my prayer! That My life would be the PROOF of Jesus' love!



If I sing but don't have love
I waste my breath with every song
I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise
If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don't have love
I leave a bitter taste with every word I say

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

If I give 
To a needy soul but don't have love then who is poor?
It seems all the poverty is found in me

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
Oh, let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

When it's all said and done
When we sing our final song
Only love remains
Only love remains

Let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

Pressing Past Pain & Living

Living through your pain or sorrow can be an agonizing task.


This too shall pass & Life goes on cliches don't always help.


Life can be a painful, emotional roller coaster. Living can hurt.


We want what we don't have and then when we have it we want what we had. We see the good when it's too late and only see the bad when we're in the midst.


How do you be content and embrace the now despite your pain, sadness, hurts or frustrations?


1. Don't focus on your problems or on what you don't have. Do focus on your blessings and what you do have.


2. Although cliche, you do have to remind yourself that "This too shall pass". "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child is born into this world" -John 16:21 -THIS too SHALL pass. You are going to come out on the other side. You are going to be okay. You will smile again. There will be joy. There is hope. There IS hope in Jesus! "He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain!" -Revelation 21:4 "Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning!" -Psalm 30:5


3. Every moment is a teaching/learning moment for us on earth. If we don't learn to live through our pain we will never help another live through theirs. If you don't embrace your now or spend too much time wishing it away, you may one day look back with regret on this time you can't get back. Learn to embrace your now so that when faced with another trial you can put to practice what you were taught.


4. Allow yourself time. Take care of yourself. Let yourself feel your feelings. Don't sweep emotions under the rug. Don't let emotions control you, but don't hide them either. The sooner we allow ourselves to feel, the sooner we will heal. Feeling isn't dwelling. And don't ever heed to the advice that says "Just Get Over It". You don't just get over it. Whatever "it" is. Everything is a process. It's through the process that we learn. Nobody learns anything over night. So if we don't allow ourselves to go through the process we are only cheating ourselves from fully recovering and coming out on the other side better & stronger.


5. There is value in your pain. Pain can make you defensive or pain can make you sympathetic. Pain can give you courage or pain can make you wallow. You choose how you react in the midst of your pain. You choose if you are going to "live" through your pain or "just get by". If you choose to LIVE you will be better for it. Our struggles in life create empathy. Pain can call attention to unhealthy things.


"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever". -Lance Armstrong ... 


Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens:

     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

6. Ups and Downs are inevitable. "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" -John 16:33


7. Laugh!


8. Go outside and enjoy the SUN!