Journal Entry ~ 10/13/19

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. - 2 Chronicles 16:9

Many of us get caught in the trap of wanting to be the best mother, wife, employee, daughter, friend we can be...so we work and we work and we work. Our schedules get packed and our anxieties rise because we don't want people to think less of us or because we want the very best for the people we love. We want to give our best, so we give it all. 

If we're not doing for someone else, we're worrying about how we're going to help someone or fix a problem. We generally put our own needs last, leaving the care of our physical needs or spiritual needs at the bottom of the priority list. Far too often in life, as women, we can find ourselves exhausted and stressed. There is nothing wrong with wanting to give our best, or with serving others before ourselves, but when it happens to the point of exhaustion, it’s an indication that something is wrong. 

This isn't the way God meant for us to be. What we're not seeing in the madness of our schedule management or in the stress of all our worrying is that we are operating on our own right to self-determine. We're the ones building our schedule and we're packing it with things we think are important rather than letting Him determine our path and our agenda. And then we wonder why we feel so exhausted. God would never create a schedule for us that exhausts is. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re working on your own agenda, not His. 

Strength rushes out of us when we hold on to our rights. When we find we are in a place where we’re crying out for His strength, that should be a huge red flag for us. Before we ask for others to pray for our strength, we need to first pause and reflect. Why has His strength left us?  What right do we need to let go of?  What are those things we need to do so His strength pours into us? 

Press on ~ you are loved 💗