Heavy Hearts and Open Hands

Sometimes, more often than we like, the realities of life can be tough, even life-altering. I penned the title and started writing this post last Saturday, just a few hours before the assassination attempt on former President Trump. I was struggling to find the right words and had stopped writing. After that horrible event where a father gave his own life to save his family, the words seem to come a little more easily.

What’s Hurting Your Heart?

Are you dealing with some things that are giving you a heavy heart and struggling to open your hands to Jesus in response? Of course you are!!! We all are. The shooting on Saturday just added another layer of heaviness to our already heavy hearts.

I guess we could put blinders on and pretend to be oblivious to what’s going on in the world. But even then, we still have deeper, more personal burdens on our hearts directly related to ourselves, our families and our friends. And to be honest with you, I think as Christians we should care deeply about our country, government, and culture. Blinders aren’t the answer.

Laying Your Burdens Down

The number one way we deal with our burdens is ignoring them. We can distract ourselves. We can push those worries and struggles to the back of our mind for a bit. But the problem is, they always come back. When we try to ignore them, we become emotional, physically ill, and a bit unhinged because they are still there, right under the surface. It leads us to depression, over-eating, substance abuse, excessive shopping and farther away from the only one who can truly offer us relief. Isn’t is easy to forget Jesus words?

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  -Matthew 11:28-30

Too Much Advice

I tend to consume a ton of information on whatever is making my heart heavy. I hope you don’t fall prey to this as easily as I do! Between books, podcasts, YouTube and Google, we are in no short supply of advice on how to live. Whether we’re learning about parenting, marriage, grief, addictions, and mental or physical health, we have plenty of options to choose from. But in the end, it’s not enough. No book or podcast can guarantee complete success. Life is way more complicated than that. Tue relief can only start with faith and trust in Jesus.

Parents with Heavy Hearts

“Parenting your toddler is so much easier than parenting your adult children.” I think I have heard this three times in the last few weeks in conversations with friends. I guess that’s because it is true to some extent. It probably depends on the toddler and the adult children.

All joking aside, the burdens we carry for our kids and grandkids seem to be the hardest. We want to fix things, take away their pain or struggle, and sometimes, make them choose a better path. Most of the time we can’t do any of these things.

Courage, Dear Heart

C.S. Lewis nailed it with this quote from The Chronicles of Narnia.

Lewis wrote Narnia with the idea of “What if Jesus came to Narnia as a Lion.” Aslan offers so much symbolism regarding the character of Christ. That’s why we love it so much!

But back to the quote! When you are feeling deeply overwhelmed by a heavy heart, can you imagine the spirit of Jesus circling around you, wrapping you in his sweet fragrance of peace. This is the peace that passes all understanding. This is how we open our hands and give those burdens to him. Lucy was able to feel Aslan’s presence in her time of great fear. She was listening and FELT SURE she heard his voice.

Opening our Hands

Perhaps opening our hands and giving our burdens over to God is the hardest part. Do you find it easier to stay in a state of fear and anxiety, rather than giving up the control you think you have over the situations in your life? It’s a good question to ask yourself.

Faith allows us to give up that control. It doesn’t mean we can do it overnight. We work to grow a strong faith and trust that Jesus can carry the load for us. It really takes a ton of trust to give up control. In the Old Testament, David found that kind of faith. He was even able to find rest at night, knowing he could trust God with his life. When you consider that David was running for his life from Saul, this is inspiring! How many hours have you lost sleep over the burdens your are carrying? In Psalms 4:8 David writes, ” In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

Open Hands Bring Joy

This is where joy is my friend. When we can find the courage to trust God enough to hand all that pain, worry, anxiety, and fear over to him, he will handle it. And we will find peace and joy as he surrounds us with the aroma of Christ.

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed. 
-Deuteronomy 31:8

You are precious in His sight,