This past week we got one of those heavy, wet spring snows. The kind that weighs down branches and even causes some trees to fall over from the weight of the snow.
Have you been feeling weighted down in life lately? There’ s so much going on in the world today that it can be easy to feel weighted down by life. Just like trees are weighted down by heavy snow. Some of them have broken branches or even have fallen over from the weight. Have you reached a breaking point in life because of the heaviness of life? Are we living under God’s grace or under the heaviness of the world.
If we’re living under God’s grace, there’s nothing we can do to make God love us more. There’s also nothing we’ve done that can make God love us less.
What weights you down in this world?
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure. James 4:1-3
- Being concerned by what other people think. So often we are consumed by what others think of us when we have no idea if that’s even true.
- Being angry with someone. Holding onto someone’s wrong-doing. Re-hashing situations in our mind.
- Letting fear and doubt control our lives instead of trusting God with the outcome of things.
- Lust: other’s possessions, lifestyle, positions, and of course, sexually
- Bitterness: letting bitterness against someone else take control of you.
- Feeling disrespcted by our spouse, children, or others in our lives.
- Feeling unloved – everyone needs to feel loved. We tend to ignore, give the silent treatment, and be unkind to others when we don’t feel loved.
When we are struggling with any of these things, we are unkind, demanding, and hurtful to others. We certainly aren’t producing the fruit of the Spirit when we are living under these types of burdens.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift of God. Salvation is not a rewards for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9
Many people right now are realizing their lives are “bent over” just like the trees that are weighted down by a heavy, wet spring snow. Many are recognizing that once they repent from their sins, their weight will melt off and they will be able to stand up tall and point to the heavens.
And He gives grace generously. As the scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. James 4:6-8
Marriage and raising a family really shows us where we are selfish and prideful. We have to learn how to think more about someone else than ourselves. It’s really daily training in dying to self. We are called to live in peace with others, including our spouse and children. How can we love others well if we can’t even love our families well?
If you’re dealing with a strained relationship, you’re more than likely feeling the weight of that. If you keep going like that, you will come to the point where you will break. God wants to take that heavy burden from you, but you must be willing to repent.
We need to be considerate for one another and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Men often wield the submission card to their wives, but they are also commanded to submit to Christ and to their wives as well. We are commanded to submit to each other out of reverence for Christ. We need to repent and surrender to Jesus over our sins and let Him take the burden we’ve been carrying. Ask for God to help you have a grateful heart and thank him for the people he’s put in your life. As that He will help you to love them well. Ask Him to help you deal with your sin and selfishness. Ask God to help you be a peacemaker.