I remember the first time I met her, she was so excited about the work she was doing. She was doing so many things and her enthusiasm was contagious. Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to catch up and each time, we hugged and celebrated her success. Recently, our interaction was different. She was tired, felt defeated, and wasn’t sure what to do. She had so many irons in the fire and all of those many responsibilities had started to take a toll on her.
This fierce beauty has become frazzled, frustrated, and trying to figure out her next steps. We hear the need for balance, but in a world that demands so much of our time and energy, it’s often challenging to comply. Even on social media, it’s easy to find individuals who boast of their time away and moments of self-care while juggling businesses and careers. I find it interesting to see the trend of announcing this to the world, when I am a believer of just making it happen.
It’s becoming more fashionable to say we are taking time to rest. Yet we are a society that is burned out, experiencing more outbursts of anger with more polarization. It doesn’t make sense. All of us who feel compelled and called to do something that changes the lives of others go through moments of trying to figure it all out. It can be a heavy load. It can become so easy to burn the candle at both ends. As a result, we are no longer bright, and shining our light to others.
Just as the candle becomes a ball of wax with too much intense heat, we can become something else—dissolving into something that we were not designed to become. How does this happen? It’s when we begin to trust ourselves in making things happen instead of trusting God to bring it to pass. We feel responsible for doing all the work and fail to remember that it is God that calls us to do the work. We adopt the principles of the world to make things happen, and we trust in ‘stuff’ instead of the Savior.
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God,” Psalm 20:7. Our trust cannot be in stuff. It has to be rooted in something stronger than we are. Our growth and ability to do the work we’ve been called to do has to be led by God. It’s so easy to watch others and want what they have. You only see what they’ve experienced from the outside. We then develop a competition to do what we see others are doing, only to realize that our impact is contingent upon our relationship with God.
What we are chasing is not sustainable. If it isn’t of God, it won’t work. “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf,” Proverbs 11:28. It’s important to recognize that it’s easy to become yoked to ideas, people, partnerships, etc. that are choking the life out of us. They are dragging us, and the consequences can be life altering when we are connected to something that does not serve us well.
What are you yoked to that is draining the life out of you? “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:29-30. When we seek God and put God first, we find rest. The load we carry will not break us. Want a successful business, career, life? Here is the key: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” Matthew 6:33. When we make God’s business our business, God will take care of everything pertaining to us. “… casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully],” 1 Peter 5:7, Amplified Bible (AMP).
(Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew is the host of the Tapestry podcast and the author of three books for women. She is also the vice president of Community Affairs for the State Fair of Texas. To learn more, visit <drfroswa.com>.)
