August has dished out way more than my heart could handle.
Between adult kids returning home, moving around, moving out again, emptying the nest. There’s been fighting for words while writing an emotional new project and then moving the last of my possessions out of my home of 20+ years earlier this week. Walking through the rooms where I raised my babies. Laying on my beloved bed for the last time. Dripping tears over photos that I can’t bear to look at now, but I’ve kept them anyways.
It has been more than my heart can handle.
Many have said, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” That saying is a lie. For many reasons. Let’s pinky swear that we won’t say it anymore.
Reason #1: God’s not the one dumping crappy stuff on you. We live in a fallen world where sometimes good people make bad decisions that hurt us or sometimes bad people do evil things that wreck our hearts and lives. Bottom line: God isn’t giving you the bad things. But, ONLY God can make good come from the sad and bad that we face.
Reason #2: When life is too much, I’ve got to let go before the weight squashes my soul. There’s no shame in admitting that my life is harder than I can handle right now. I’m not saying that my life is harder than someone else’s, it’s just really hard for me.
The freedom in admitting that my life is beyond what I can handle is that I don’t have to buck up and pretend I’m good. I don’t have to slap on a scripture band-aid and a smile.
I can just let God know that I can’t carry the weight. Thankfully, He’s more than willing to take the weight from us.
“Give all of your worries and cares to God because He cares about you.” -1 Peter 5:7
What gives me hope and peace today is that I can give God my heavy heart, my weary soul, and the circumstances that are beyond my control.
There’s a beautiful lift in letting go and letting God.
Dear friend, this is my prayer for you. Talk to God about what you can no longer handle. Stop just sucking it up and pretending that it doesn’t hurt. Acknowledge the weight and the pain. Then…Let go. Let God.
