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Dear You,
You feel the weight of so much responsibility sometimes. It’s like the world is sitting on your shoulders. I watch it bend you over, bit by bit, and even though you try to be brave, I know there are moments when you feel you might be crushed.
Will you listen close for a moment? You don’t have to carry so much. I know you feel like that’s what love requires. I know you believe it’s expected of you. And in a world where so many are selfish, I admire that you’re willing even to try. That is rare and beautiful. Yet this is not your burden to hold. You can’t sustain it. Deep down inside you know this is true.
When you get ready to lay it down, fear taunts you. You worry about what will happen to those you love and this great, big world. Listen, friend, your shoulders are not broad enough for all of this. The only shoulders wide enough are the ones that stretched across the wooden beams of a cross.
You belong to the Jesus who died so you wouldn’t have to carry all this weight. You belong to the God who spoke the world into being. You belong to the Spirit who dwells in every heart and knows each person’s thoughts. You are invited to join in the divine purposes of the kingdom of God, to be a partner in his great and glorious work, but you are not responsible for it.
Asking you to take responsibility for this world would be like asking a toddler to take charge of his father’s house. No loving parent would expect that from his child. And your heavenly Father doesn’t ask it of you. What does he ask? What any parent does: love and obedience.
You are a child, and life is not meant to be so full of burdens that you can’t enjoy what your heavenly Father wants to give you. When your arms and heart and life are so full, how can you receive from him? Let some of it go. Just lay it down.
You’re not meant to live feeling so weighed down. Instead you’re created to be lifted up by the heavenly Father who cherishes you more than you can even know.
XOXO
(inspired by Isa. 53:5; Matt. 11:28; Matt. 18:1–5 and adapted from If We Could Have Coffee…{ebook})
{to-go coffee for your heart}
Welcome to the Coffee for Your Heart weekly link-up!
You’re an encourager so I’m asking you to pour out a little love with your words every Wednesday {link-up goes live at 5:30am CST}. Simply write an encouraging blog post and then share it here with us. If you don’t have a blog, you can still come by holleygerth.com to read the posts and join in too.
If you’d like a writing prompt to get you going, here’s a list I created just for you: 30 Writing Prompts.
Pretty please use this new button in your post so others can easily join in with us {html code in right sidebar}…
And when you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!
I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth
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