Doing Good

This week, I've been sharing about feeling weary.  Yesterday I shared a verse and some resources for helping bring us back to Jesus. As I've mentioned for me, feeling weary means feeling overwhelmed and wanting to retreat to my bed.  Sometimes I'm overwhelmed when our schedule is too much.  Too many places to be, too many chores left undone.

Other times, I get overwhelmed when I feel like what I'm doing doesn't matter.  I will do most anything for someone who I feels values me.  But when I feel like people are taking advantage of me, it's hard for me.  I question, "Why am I running myself ragged for no good reason.  No one cares but me."  I'm not great at confronting people appropriately to ask them stop treating me that way or tell them how I'm feeling.  So, I internalize it and it piles on my stress.

I'm also a law and order kinda girl.  I like to follow the rules, I like it when other people follow the rules.  I want people who don't follow the rules to be held accountable.  I don't necessarily want people harshly punished.   I'm not perfect and I don't expect others to be. I just want people to own their mistakes and be honest about it. It's what I try to do and I can't always understand when people don't.

When one of these things is out of balance AND we have a crazy schedule, it really does a number on me.

I know that as a Christian, I find my identity in Christ.  I should be deeply fulfilled by my relationship with Him and not by what others think of me.  I should forgive others as Christ forgive me.  I know all these things.  But I'm not perfect.  I'm still growing in Christ.  I'm just trying to be honest here about what overwhelms and stresses me.

When I get to this low place, I try to remember this verse.

I have this verse taped to my laptop.  Under it I've written: "my job is giving not the receiving".

It helps me remember my purpose.  I'm supposed to do good.  I'm supposed to do what God has called me to do.  It helps me refocus on where to find my value - in Christ. When I feel weary and that I want to run away, I am reminded to not give up.  I remember that I'm actually doing things for Christ through doing them for his people.  

Through writing these blogs this week, God has shown me that I'm weary and overwhelmed when I am out of my own lane.  I'm out of my lane when:

• I'm doing too much
• I'm doing things that are out of line with what God has called me to
• I forget that my identity is in Christ and not in what people think of me
• I feel like I'm in charge of how others act
• I feel slighted because others don't do what's right
• I am trying to be in charge instead of letting God be God.

LORD, forgive me when I serve away from you.  Pull me under your yoke and help me stay in my own lane.  Amen

"Come to Me"

Yesterday, I wrote about feeling weary right now.  My main tool during these times is usually giving myself grace.  Honestly though, I'm not great at giving myself grace.  My next line of defense is scripture.  Today, let's talk about one of those scriptures.

In this section of scripture, Jesus is inviting people to salvation.  My study Bible calls it the great invitation.  Jesus is saying come receive salvation, learn from me and serve the LORD.

Jesus references a yoke in these verses.  A yoke is used to join two animals together to plow.  It invokes hard labor.  Yet, in these verses Jesus assures us that his yoke is light.  It should be our pleasure to do the work of the LORD.  It's not hard labor.

The awesome thing about this passage is that Jesus is inviting us into a relationship with him.  He's not telling us to do something on our own.  He wants us to do it together.  He wants us to both be under the same yoke.  He wants us to learn from him.  Jesus wants to give us his gentle spirit.  He wants us to have rest.

Although I accepted Jesus as my savior many (many!) years ago, I still need to be reminded to return to my relationship with Him.  Especially when I'm feeling weary.  Weary and overwhelmed usually go hand in hand for me.  I'm overwhelmed when I'm doing too much that's not important.  I'm not staying in my own lane.  In these verses, Jesus is calling me back to His lane.

If you're feeling weary, let me encourage you to come to or return to Jesus.  You might be thinking, "Aimee, did you miss the part where I'm feeling overwhelmed.  I can't add one more thing to my schedule."  You don't have to add an hour of Bible study today.  Add some praise music to your day.  Read some scripture when you wake up.  Pause to pray.

If you have never received Jesus as your savior, PLEASE contact me.  I'd love to answer your questions and pray with you.  Jesus wants nothing more than you!

Here are some resources to help....
My Shane & Shane playlist on Spotify
Proverbs 31's First Five app - designed to help you give your First Five minutes to the LORD every morning.
Echo Prayer app
- Add in some prayer requests and Echo will ping you to remind you to pray.

Weary

Friends, let's get honest here...who among us is NOT weary?

Everyone I know is.  The Spring is exhausting.  I think it's baseball season that does it to me.  The games aren't always at a set time and place.  It gets rained out a lot. Then we have tournaments all weekend and I can't get anything done at home or take a nap.

Also, spring in a school is over the top cray-cray!  We've got state mandated testing.  End of year performances.  Projects.  Planning for next year.  Field trips.  All. The. Things.

The crazier my calendar gets, the sleepier I get.  My bed is my retreat.  I want to crawl in and let the world fend for itself.  As glorious as that sounds, it's not realistic.  I have to get up and face the world with all it's craziness.

I do try to stick to my schedule during these crazy times.  I will be honest, I do sleep in more mornings and miss my Bible study and writing time.  I try to make it up during the day but that doesn't always happen either.

When I'm feeling this way, the main thing I try to do is to give myself some grace.  No one at my house expects super perfect super mom except me.  So, I try to dial it down a little.  More frozen food for dinner.  More dishes in the sink longer.

There are two verses I cling to during my weary times:

I'm going to talk about them Wednesday and Thursday this week.  Come on back!

Cheaters Never Win?

While researching for Tuesday's blog, Be Still, I came across Psalm 37.  I was looking for the Bible verse "Be still and know that I am God." That's Psalm 46:10. The concordance (the part in the back of your Bible that helps you find verses.)  showed 3 verses contained the word still. The first listing says "Be still before the LORD and wait" Psalm 37:10.  I feel like I'm in a season of waiting for the LORD to show me my next move so my curiosity was piqued.

What I found in Psalm 37 was a very practical how to guide on handling yourself with the bad guys are winning.  It wasn't the verse I had been looking for but it was the word I needed from the LORD.  Isn't God amazing?

We all come upon people in our lives who are doing things all wrong.  They cheat. They lie.  They steal.  They treat people awfully.  They don't own their mistakes.  They are downright mean.

And yet...

They seem to be prospering.  They get the promotion. They buy a bigger house.  They drive a better car.

As a Christian, I'm often torn in these situation.  My brain knows that God has a plan for me.  A plan to prosper me and not harm me (Jeremiah 29:11).  I even know the old saying "cheaters never win".  So what to do when it seems like cheaters are winning?

The verse that the concordance pointed me to was 37:10

Stay in your own lane.  Keep your eyes on your own paper.  Worry about yourself.  That's what to do when it seems like cheaters are winning.  Be still and let God be God.

Kids love to tattle and get in each other's business.  They aren't generally sneaky about it either.  A couple of weeks ago, I had a kid tattle on another one then 10 minutes later come back to ask what I'd done about it.  I gave him my classic line on such matters: "When that's your business, I'm gonna let you know."

Isn't that what God is telling us here?  "When you need to worry about, I'm gonna let you know"

Instead we are to keep our eyes on our own paper.  Stay in our lane.  Do the work God has given you to do.  Let Him work out the rest.  Remember the old Steven Curtis Chapman song "God is God".  There's a line in the song that says God is God and I am not.

That's the key - remembering that God is God and I am not.  And that's what Psalm 37 is trying to teach us to do.  It's full of practical advice on how to trust God and let Him work.

For a great article about all of Psalm 37 and how to let God be God, read this.