A New Kind of Weight Loss: 3 Ways to Lighten your Load
My pre-quarantine attitude was noble. Like the cucumbers pickling in jars in my pantry, I would come out changed. Better. “Zesty,” even! I had the time to address areas of my life that needed attention, character traits that needed improvement, and body parts that needed lifting. Nearly a year later, I feel like I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown, my roots are three inches long, and I often find myself reminding Jesus of his promise to return and “suggesting” he do so right this minute. I feel heavy, and not just because gyms are still closed in my area and food delivery is more accessible than ever. It turns out, fewer activities coupled with fresh determination to improve oneself can lead to unwanted emotional “weight-gain.”
A couple of years ago, my daughter complained that her backpack was too heavy. She was only in the second grade… her bag shouldn’t be that cumbersome. I looked inside and found several large rocks she’d collected from the playground. No wonder she was having a hard time!
That’s me now. Stuffing rocks in my bag and wondering why I can’t handle the weight. It’s because we weren’t meant to handle the weight. I’m guessing I don’t need to remind you of Jesus’s words in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” But perhaps I can help you pinpoint some things that are weighing you down by sharing what I’ve identified recently as unnecessary and harmful weight in my backpack, and how Jesus is lightening my load:
Weighed Down by Regret:
During this last year, there were many opportunities to reflect on my past. That can be helpful when you’re trying to change, but for me, this quickly devolved into regret over past mistakes and major anxiety over future ones. I’m already regretting future mistakes! As a result, decisions are virtually impossible to make. I’m constantly second-guessing myself and frozen in ambivalence.
Lighten your Load: You and I will mess up today. And tomorrow. And the next day. God will use your failures to grow your faith in and dependence on him.
Weighed Down by an Image:
Identifying what we want to improve and coming up with a plan to get there can also be great. But for me, this turned into projecting an image that was too difficult to maintain. I don’t mean in any kind of “flashy” way, like with material possessions, but certainly in areas of homemaking and motherhood, my professional and academic life, and Christian living. Identity is who you are. Image is who you project yourself to be. Real change and improvement have to happen on the identity level and it is the Holy Spirit’s job to facilitate growth, not our job to project and fake it.
Lighten your Load: “Live to impress no one.” -Meg Meeker, pediatrician and author. Ask the Holy Spirit to initiate real growth in areas you feel you need it, then cooperate in the process rather than trying to hijack it.
Weighed Down by Control:
Perhaps like me, this last year has taught you how little you are actually in control of. And perhaps like me, that makes you very uneasy. Often, trusting God with what we can’t control is uncomfortable. But I have learned that not trusting God is unbearable. I simply cannot maintain the weight of it.
Lighten your Load: Embrace your limits and trust God with the rest. Reflect on his promises and take him at his word.
How about you? What’s weighing you down and in what way is Jesus trying to lighten your load?
I can’t promise instant weight loss (wouldn’t that be nice!), but I can promise Jesus is there to make your burden light. This has been a rough journey for all of us. Let’s allow Jesus to make our burden a little lighter. Let’s remove those heavy rocks and place them in the hands of the Chief Cornerstone and the Rock of Our Salvation.
Warmly,
Lauren
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