Carry On

I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them: "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden." ~St Augustine

I had a bad day yesterday.

There are bad days, and there are REALLY bad days.

Yesterday was a REALLY bad day.

An aching combination of hurtful occurrences, unkind attitudes and words from people who are supposed to care about me, trigger points to various struggles of mine, and a small pile of minor irritations compiled on me to the point of breaking.

I shattered.

The world felt incredibly empty...I felt as though I had very little worth to anyone, and that even God was very far away from me.

I hit a point that I hit so often in my own strength. The burden of being me and dealing with all the pain around me had turned into a weight that threatened to press me down into minuscule shards of worthlessness.

As Moses cried in the wilderness...as Elijah wept under the tree...as David poured his heart out to God in the caves...

...this burden was just too heavy for me to carry alone.

I could barely stand under the weight of it all. My own weakness consumed me.

And that's when someone incredibly dear to my heart told me something that will stick with me forever: it was a "one set of footprints in the sand" moment.

I didn't have to carry everything all alone...

...in fact, I never even had to pick up the boulder in the first place.

He had me the entire time.

When I feel worthless, He calls me precious.

When I feel empty, He fills me with Himself.

When I feel unloved, His nail-scarred hands remind me that He loved me more than life.

When I feel as though I'm grasping at empty air, His hands are already around my waist...never letting me fall.

When the road feels endless, He already has me tucked against His chest, whispering, "stay calm. I've got you."

The expression goes: "keep calm and carry on."

I feel like I should change it...

...just this once.

"Keep calm...

...and let Him carry."

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ~2 Corinthians 4: 8-9