What a friend we have in Jesus! This hymn was written in 1855 by Joseph Scriven and it still rings true today.
Oh, sister! How real are those words?! Read it again.
Why do we carry things that are not ours to carry in the first place?
What needless pain are you carrying around?
It’s time to unpack that bag!
“Come to Me, all you 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.)
We have to learn to let things go and stop carrying the weight around. That bag can get quite heavy, can’t it?! We are all guilty of taking things in and adding them to our life “bag.” It’s usually things that are more than just meaningless; they are harmful. See, we need to be real with ourselves and ask:
What am I carrying?
Unforgiveness?
Bitterness?
Negative emotions?
Other’s opinions?
Depression?
Anxiety?
Negative talk?
Toxic relationships?
Whatever it is, sweet sister, only you and Him know.
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22.)
It’s time to unpack that bag, sister!
Guilt has to go.
Anxiety has to flee.
Rejection is bound.
Addiction has no place.
He is THE chain breaker.
Victory is won. Let’s stop living a life of defeat. A very high price was paid for our victory. We are victors, not victims!
See sis, YOU decide on whether you carry those burdens around and let them weigh you down, because only you can do the unpacking.
Jesus is ready and waiting to bear the weight, but will you give the heaviness to Him? Will you leave those unnecessary items from your bag with Him? His arms are open wide, but sometimes we like to hold on with a death grip. Right? We have all been there.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10.)
Let’s focus on Jesus! Isn’t it right, “What a friend we have in Jesus!”
What a precious privilege it is to carry everything to Him in prayer!
Sister, you are a VICTOR! Not “will be” or “has been” but you ARE!
Now, go and walk like it because that bag is lighter so you can walk with that pep in your step! You got this, sister!
You were given an opportunity one day, an opportunity (and honor) to share Jesus and to share your story that day.
On that day,
Someone needed to hear about Jesus.
Someone needed to hear about grace and mercy.
Someone needed to know the chain breaker.
Someone needed to hear about the hope that YOU have.
Have you ever been in the presence of a name-dropper?
Everyone just had someone pop into their head and let out a slight chuckle because there is usually a story to follow.
You just met this person,
And,
Well,
You know nothing about them.
You know more about who they know than who they are.
…Wait, did you even get this person’s name?
You know more about everyone’s business in the room than who this person is.
…In fact, you are still waiting on their first name.
Here’s one thing about me; I am not a “stage person” at all.
I don’t like being in front of people.
I do not want all eyes on me.
I know that I didn’t zip my pants,
I am sweating through my shirt, or
I must have bright red lipstick on my teeth.
I say that with a LOUD chuckle because
I go through every “worst case” scenario.
Sister,
now don’t tell me that you have never gone through that list before?
I know you are laughing.
This is why I love Sisterhood.
We get each other.
We have each other’s backs.
Wait, I was Snow White in an elementary school play.
I do have one credit.
Where have my royalties checks been sent to all of these years?!
I need to look into that.
So, where do I like to be?
I am a major “behind the scenes” kinda gal.
I like to cheer for others.
I watch and listen a lot.
I have had the “not so great” pleasure of hearing a name-droppers conversation a time or two.
I know we all have.
I was on my laptop, and I ran across an interview.
They were given a short time to talk about Jesus and share their story.
This interview ended up being a game of one-up and constant name-dropping on who they knew in ministry.
Sadly, they were in this game alone.
You could even tell by the interviewer’s tone; this was not the goal of the interview.
It struck my heart.
Hard.
…But then it all clicked as well.
Name-droppers live a life of comparison.
Sister, the comparison trap is a tool of the enemy.
Rebuke insecurity and comparison,
they have no place in your life.
They must go.
Never compare your journey to someone else’s.
You don’t know the battles they fought to get there.
Social media is just a highlight reel.
Focus on your task.
Only do what you have been called to do!
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.
Galatians 6:4
Sister, this is not a race to see who can have the largest
following by manipulating “relationships.”
When we see Jesus he won’t ask us how many followers we had on Facebook or Instagram.
When we see Jesus he won’t ask us how many attended the last conference we hosted.
Love people.
Listen to their hurts.
Wrap your arms around them.
Pray with them.
Cry with them.
Sit in silence with them.
Love people.
Truly love them.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; …
1 Corinthians 13:1-8
They see you, beautiful sister, but they need to see Jesus in you.
They hear you, sweet sister, but they need to hear about Jesus.
We need real.
We have too much fake.
Let’s die to that nasty flesh.
This is not about us, but it’s ALL about HIM!
Sister,
you will have the opportunity (and honor) to share Jesus and your story with someone today.
The Lord spoke to me at the beginning of 2020 that I needed to REST more and consume less.
“Consume Less” are the words God had given me from that day forward. This covers several areas. I am a major stress eater and have been having migraines for weeks straight so my goal is to eat healthier and work out. I also know that he was speaking to me to CONSUME LESS conversations! I don’t mean “gossip”–I mean watching the conversations, social media posts, phone calls, rumors (we Pastor a church), etc. that are brought to us daily.
Sis, we need to guard our hearts and learn to LEAVE it in prayer.
Not every battle is your battle to fight.
Not every conversation should consume us.
Not every phone call should take our day over.
People disagreeing with you shouldn’t cause you to lose sleep.
Politics should not consume you—this is a big one right now.
What happens when something consumes us??
It takes our lives over—then when can’t focus on what matters….Distractions delay vision!
Sis, distractions are not worth it!
They are 100% from the enemy.
I knew a guy who had an anointing on his life to preach and he was awesome in his early years of ministry, but he started letting church battles, wrong friendships, taking advice from ex-Staff members who had left his church on bad terms, congregation rumors and disagreeing with changes the Pastor was making, take over his life. I mean completely take over his life—he ate and breathed negativity that wasn’t his to listen to, and battles that were not his to fight, consume his WHOLE life. We watched an upbeat fun-loving guy go to a miserable negative guy who left his church hurting a lot of people including his closest friends.
Don’t be this person, Sis!
I have a jean jacket that says “Peace is Power”…This is so true!
Exodus 14:14 says the Lord will fight for us, so guess what you need to do– Hold your peace!
How can you hold your peace? Consume less.
There are relationships that I have had to consume less of just this year.
I know every Sister has at least one relationship they need to distance from.
There are social media pages that I have had to unfollow because they would try to steal my peace.
Sis just hit the “unfollow” button, it’s not worth your peace.
My peace is my weapon.
Sister, your peace is your weapon.
My peace is my power.
Sister, your peace is your power.
Sis, learn to simply walk away because the cost is too high not too!
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Exodus 14:14
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I said goodbye to a sister today…Today was tough. Real tough. You rarely see tears run down my cheeks but today the waterfall poured, and it wasn’t beautiful like a Hawaiian waterfall. It was ugly crying but then followed much peace. Isn’t it amazing how God provides such peace in the most difficult times in our life?
Ok, I am wallering (Is that even a word or just a southern made-up word?!) in my hurt right now. There was no physical death. I didn’t say the words “good-bye,” I just said, “I will see you in your next season.” Seasons. Blah! Sis, can they really stink or what? Some are great but this season stinks just like my boys’ bedroom. Does anyone have Febreeze?!
The Bible tells us about seasons and has scriptures on seasons.
My favorite scripture on seasons in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 3:1-22.
For everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
See, when we love someone so much we would do anything for them, that includes letting them go so they can walk this season safely and rely fully on Jesus. Does it make it hurt less? NO way. Does it feel like a physical death? Yes, because there’s no contact but thank God it’s not. What I love about seasons is that they are only temporary. God told me specifically for the “ending of this season in her life,” I don’t know how long that is but I know a Season doesn’t last for eternity even though it may feel like it. You know how summer gets super hot and you dream of a cool fall breeze?! That’s how it feels while you are in a waiting season, but you know Fall and that nice cool breeze is just around the corner. You won’t stay in one season your whole life so don’t fret. Count sheep or do something to pass the time but don’t pick at your gel nails. That’s a lot of money to fix. I may have a $50 nail bill each week after this.
My words given to me by the Lord for this year were “Let Go”…Can I be completely honest?? I did NOT want to hear God speak these words to me. Like, I ignored Him. Just being real.
Ok God…give me something really good besides “Let Go.” Really? I mean how about anything but those words. Those words mean hurt to me and I don’t want to live a year of hurt. I was being completely selfish as I heard Him whisper….”You don’t want to Grow?!” Ouch. Burn. I need a bandaid. “Yes Lord, I do want to grow but I don’t”…then I stopped and thought how selfish I am sounding right now. Letting go is not bad. We have to let go to get the better, we have to let go to grow, we have to let go to conquer our fears, we have to let go to get to His promises for us and in this case, I had to let go so my sister could let go and fully trust in Jesus in her situation. We both had to “let go.”
Am I sad? Oh yes! I never had a sister. I am the oldest of 3 and my brothers are both younger. Now, don’t get me wrong I love my little brothers but I always enjoyed watching sisters and loved how you had a built-in best friend. Yes, every girl they dated was scared to come to meet the family because of the warnings about their older sister. I laugh because I just really wanted them happy but I also laugh because those gals will treat my brothers right or here comes big sister. They actually hate it but that’s ok. This gal was MY sister but I know that to protect her, I had to let her go.
You may be asking, why? Shouldn’t you walk with your sister in Christ? Shouldn’t you be there to support her? My answer is,” it’s very complicated.” I prayed and the Lord told me to stop all communication and that I couldn’t be in the “ending of this season in her life.” You see, why I don’t like the words “let go?” It’s hard but I will always listen to the Lord because not only am I helping her but the growth I have taken in such a big stance has come with so much peace.
I am trusting God to take care of her. I am trusting God that this next season will be one of our best ever as Sisters. I am just trusting God.
Who do you need to “Let Go” of? I am praying for you. It’s tough. I can feel the little crack in your heart too but just remember this season won’t last forever. I’m giving you an air hug right now.
Just remember that He has spoken to you so hold these two Words close.
To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is! Proverbs 15:23
I said “see you in your next season” to my sister today. Oh, how I am counting down the days until I can say “Hey Sis! Oh, how much I have missed you and have been #prayingfromadistance! Let’s rock this new season!” (Oh, I need to stop hugging her now! HAHA!)
Hey Sister!
I’m Julia, welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a pastor's wife, mama to four amazing kiddos, a leader, speaker, and now blogger! Here we’re going to keep things fun, real, and loving. Thanks so much for stopping by!
