Lightening the Load by Julie Clinton

I read this today, and I just had to share this with you all.  Enjoy!

Excerpts from:

Lightening the Load

By: Julie Clinton

It is impossible to get exhausted in work for God.  We get exhausted because we try to do God's work in our own way.

-Oswald Chambers

I can't tell you the number of times I've done something by myself because I bought into the idea that "if you want it done right, do it yourself."  Or the number of times I was too proud to ask for help because I thought I would seem less capable.  And sometimes I refused to let others help because doing so would mean losing total control.

When we try to do too many things or refuse help from others, our lives become more imbalanced.  And for most Americans, exhaustion has become an epidemic.

• Workplace stress costs more than $300 billion each year in health care,  missed work, and stress reduction.
• Americans work more than 1800 hours on the job a year-350 hours more than Germans and slightly more than Japanese.
• More than 30 percent of workers say they are "always" or "often" under stress at work.  A quarter of those surveyed in 2002 said they often did not have enough coworkers to get the job done.
• The average European worker gets four to six weeks of vacation per year compared to the average two weeks of vacation for their America counterparts.

So what can you do to lighten your load?

Know your limits.  Never let your schedule get so out of control that you can no longer manage it.  do a personal inventory.  Are you getting enough sleep?  Spending enough time with your children? Your significant other?  Learn to recognize the physical, emotional, and mental warning signals your body emits at the brink of exhaustion.

Know God's will.  God's will is for you to "pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all" (1 Thessalonians 5:15 NKJV).  It's not to scramble around frantically to make sure every task is completed by the end of the day, wearing out both you and those around you.  If you're constantly living with an agitated heart, you are not in the center of God's will.

Know when to quit.  Jesus never spent His time and energy the way we do today.  The Bible gives no indication that He worked around the clock.  In fact, in many cases Jesus snuck off alone to pray and rest.  Being in God's will, Jesus was able to go to sleep without having healed and saved everybody in Israel.

Know what's important.  Knowing your priorities will help you accomplish more even when you feel as if you're doing less.  Effectiveness is not about quantity and getting a lot done; it's about the quality of what you are doing and understanding that the Holy Spirit is ultimately responsible for multiplying your efforts.

I don't know what you're wrestling with in your life that might be too heavy for you to bear.  But I do know that right now, somewhere in your life, some people are just waiting for you to ask them to help you.  Maybe a friend can give you a break from care-giving responsibilities.  Or a supervisor will assure that your work gets done as you go through chemotherapy and radiation. 

Only you know what's weighing you down.  But Jesus stands ready to help you figure out how to lighten your load, and He has placed people in your life to assist you.  All you have to do is ask.



Much Love,

Jessica

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