Weighed Down!

Yesterday, as my husband and I were driving, we came along side an RV camper, similar to this one. We were at a red light waiting for the red light to switch to green. Many of the drivers pulled into the lane behind us because, well, the RV was slower and nobody wanted to get stuck driving behind it. When the light turned green, we could hear the RV’s engine revving and we could tell the driver was pushing the gas pedal all of the way down. Regardless, they were moving very slowly. So we all passed up the box-mobile and soon it was far behind us. I felt God remind me of several verses I’ve been studying this year after seeing it on the road.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith.”

Hebrews 12:1

This verse has been my focus and prayer as we have begun a new year. If there’s an area in my life that is hindering me, God will bring it to light. He knows the course He has planned for my life and the appointed moments along the way. He knows when I can get weighed down with bad habits, life, sin, my words, wrong attitudes, negative emotions, and so on. Similar to that boxy, clunky RV that was working to keep up on the road, when I get weighed down, I struggle! God showed me through that, there’s things He is removing from my life (unhealthy habits, unhealthy emotions, etc.) so I can move forward easily, faster. So this verse has been my prayer. “Lord, if there’s anything in me, or anyway in my life that is not pleasing to You, show me.” I don’t ever want to be weighed down and unable to move forward into all that God has for me. His plans for me are good, even better than I can imagine, think or see. His plans for you, my friend, are good as well.

I’ve been walking with God for a long time. Walking with God doesn’t mean I’m perfect, by any means, but He is. He’s a patient loving Abba and I know that I can trust His heart for me. There have been times along the journey when I got sidetracked, distracted, weighed down, and came to a complete stop for whatever reason.

This brings to mind a funny story of my sister’s dog. When she’s getting ready to take him outside for their daily walk, Hemmers knows they’re going out and gets excited. They’ll head to the beach or wherever they’re going for his daily outing. After they walk for a while, he just decides that he’s had enough, and will plop himself down, right then and there and will refuse to take one more step, even before they get back to her truck. The first time I saw him do this I smiled and laughed because he really did sit down and would not take another step. I laugh but as I look back on this journey with God, I see I’ve occasionally done the exact same thing. He had a destination in mind for me and along the way, I would just plop down and refuse to go any further or I became too weighed down to move forward like I should.

I’m so thankful for His patience. He is a patient, jealous God and wants nothing between me and Him. He knows when I get weary and can’t move forward. So He will patiently wait for me and He knows when it’s time to propel me forward by having me let go of things that are weighing me down. He meets me right where I am, over and over again. He is the lifter of my head. Things change when I focus on Him and quiet my heart to hear His voice. I find that I can let go of things. I can move forward.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

Galatians 5:7-8

So my friend, whether it’s getting up and moving forward again, or letting go of somethings in life that are weighing you down, I’m here to tell you, “You can do this.” Whatever has been going on, whatever has caused you to stop moving forward, or if you just needed to catch your breath, Jesus is right there with you. He has a course marked out for your life. He is cheering you on so you can move forward and finish your race.