When You Can't Juggle Everything
I can juggle a few things, but even clowns have a limit.
I said "no" to everything after Little E was born, but recently I've started to say "yes" to a few more things. More things became too many things too fast. I was already juggling too many things and felt overwhelmed. Then, someone told me in an email that their leg was hurting, and that was the straw that broke my circus act back. It felt like they were giving me this burden to carry, except I didn't have any hands to carry it and couldn't heal the leg if I tried. I felt at a loss because I couldn't practically help. I also felt a little angry because that was one more thing to add to my neglected prayer list. All the balls dropped to the floor. I didn't go to juggling school, but maybe if I acted more like a clown at least I could laugh about it.
But then the Lord reminds me that I’m not supposed to juggle or hold onto things. I can receive the sick and hurting and needy because I can give them up to the Lord in prayer. I can’t hang on to problems and people by myself. As soon as someone hands me a ball (in the form of responsibility, news of injury, death, or a financial need), I have to throw it right back up to the Lord.
God Is Both Skilled And Strong
A little ball is light for the first five minutes, but is paralyzing to hold for five hours. When Galatians 6:2 commands us to carry each other’s burdens, it’s not talking about trying to handle God’s burdens. Giving troubles to Jesus now isn’t going to burden Him. Jesus paid for all of our sins on the cross in the past. He has already taken care of it, so we don't have to.
It's like when my two-year-old tries to carry her little backpack. I can tell when it's too heavy for her. I offer to take it from her but she refuses until she starts waddling, and then will hand it up to me. God is a kind Father who wants to take your anxieties from you.
Every time I am given a burden or help carry one for a friend, the first thing I do should be to throw it up to the Lord. I can’t juggle; I’m not that coordinated. I can’t hold on to burdens very long; I’m not that strong. But our God is both skilled and strong. He not only wants us to give our burdens to Him, He asks us to: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). The next time you tell me how to be praying for you, I’m going to catch that ball and throw it straight up to the Lord.
So, how can I be praying for you?
