Have you ever been faced with a situation that is too overwhelming to deal with?
Have you ever been faced with too high of a mountain or too deep of a valley to pass?
Well if you haven’t then get ready because the longer you live the better chance you will have to face some tough situations.
We all have dealt with some terrible things in our lives, especially this past year. We must unfortunately come against the ugly truth that we are only human and that we must have trials for us to reach the next level of our purpose in God.
He created us to change constantly, grow always, while moving from strength to strength. We are made better in knowing that we will get through any and every situation that comes our way.
Then there are times that the trials get too complicated, and the test too difficult.
What do you do when this happens? How do we deal with life when the weight gets too heavy to bear? God has given us the tools, so we must learn to use them first before we can master the hills and the valleys ahead.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30
When I was in college (HBCU GRAD), I had made the decision to move out from the dorms and to get my own apartment. I had this falsely glamorous outlook of being totally on my own and that I would be living the ultimate young adult life.
I could have parties, have my friends over all the time, and just live it up as a 20-year-old. I had gotten a telecommunications job working part-time evenings so that I could still go to school full time in the mornings.
I had it made it through okay for like the first 6 months.
But what I did not know definitely started to hurt me later.
I had gotten a credit card. (Yes, the worst decision I could have ever made back then)
I racked up so much debt, then on top of that I started to not pay my rent because I was over spending to go and hang out and shop for unnecessary things.
I also started to bounce checks in the grocery stores because I did not have enough money in my account to pay for food. Literally I was spiraling out of control and for the longest time I just ignored these issues.
Can I say that being 19 and 20 was a definite learning curve time for me…..
This is what happens when you have zero knowledge of financial literacy?
I thought that they were not a big deal up until I started to receive my first eviction notice, certified letters from lawyers, and a bunch of threatening mail from bill collectors from everywhere it seemed like.
I was totally and utterly in chaos and all of this at that age. I had no idea about how credit worked and how balancing budgets worked.
Back then, I was not as close to God as I should have been nor did I have the tools to read the word and get what I needed from it to get the direction that only God could give.
I did the only thing I knew how to do……ask for help from family. And after hearing all the lectures, all the I told you so’s, and the list of things I would need to do to pay them back, they came through and took care of all my debt.
Here I was trying to be this adult woman, in my mind, doing all the lavish things I had seen on tv and yet had no clue of what it took to be an adult. It was one of the most humbling times of my life.
This was my first taste of being overwhelmed by weight too heavy to bear.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5: 6-7
Now tell me, when was the last time you were humbled by a situation or circumstance in your life?
I gave you only one example of the heavy burdens that I faced in my life when I was too naïve in my thinking I was doing just fine on my own.The suffering I could have avoided had I done things in the right way at the right time with God in the driver’s seat of my life.
Instead I chose to trust in my own limited knowledge and experience to make a huge life decision. This was not my best idea, yet it happened, and I had to grow from it.
“The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.” Psalms 145: 14
Since that experience, I have come to learn four very important truths…
- We all will make mistakes and we all will try and fail at times.
- We all must be built up and torn down depending on the season.
- We all must bear with one another our burdens and our truth.
- We need God way more than He needs us and we cannot afford to lose our souls to follow our own unwise ways.
I know many of you have a story similar to mine and you have something different to add.
These heavy loads are hard to carry and honestly, I know that God was always there bailing me out over and over again.
Going through impossible situations makes us believe in the impossible within us. Trusting God may seem impossible, yet He loves us and wants nothing but the best for us. No matter the mistakes we have made, or the bad deals and or direction we took, HE LOVES US!
And just like a good parent (“Like a good neighbor”…., my cheesy State Farm reference), there will be a lecture, there will be a time to feel sorry for yourself, and a bit of guilt.
Yet, that time is fleeting and then He is picking us up and carrying us back to the place where we had left off. We can begin again and to be even more determined to complete the race that we are destined to run.
In the end, when the weight gets too heavy to bear, you must decide to trust God.
You must press forward in His word even harder and you must pray even stronger.
These are the times, this year, that will make you or break you. And you have to make the decision to either carry the weight alone or to allow God into your life to sustain and guide you through. He is the ultimate load carrier and in Him He will never put more on us than we can bear.
As always, you got this!
Sincerely,
Terryn
MODERN FAITHERELLA 