Worry and Purses

So, my purse strap broke last night. I love this purse. It’s not old. But I have this problem of carrying a million things in my purse all the time. It weighs me down. It probably compounds the issues I already have with my shoulder. My whole life is in there. I carry things for my husband and kids constantly. I can never find what I need because there is so much junk in there. People who know me well, know if you need something, I’ll have it in my purse most of the time. If you’re a mom, you know my struggle. I don’t even know how half of the stuff in there even got there.

There was a moment last night that God showed me such a simple thing-an inconvenience really-can have Devine implications. For especially women, we have large hearts of compassion. We want to help people. We are nurturers, caretakers. It’s part of our calling, and it’s one way that God’s DNA is reflected through us. We display a facet of our Creator through our caring, nurturing predisposition.

God reminded me last night that the problem arises when the enemy lies to us and gets us to believe that we aren’t doing enough. He leads us into erroneous thinking that somehow we need to take on burdens that aren’t ours to bear to begin with. Just like my purse, we go through life picking up other people’s stuff and putting it in our “purse”, taking it upon ourselves, under the guise that we will “just pray for them” or “it’s the least we can do”. All the while, the enemy is filling our bag with hurts that aren’t ours, offense for ourselves and others, anger over another’s injustice, and slowly, he steals-our joy, our song, our life- from us. As the too full purse weighs me down and makes my shoulder hurt,making it difficult for me to do what I’m created to do, carrying heavy burdens takes our focus off of the most important things we are each uniquely called to do.

Do we still care for people? Of course. But we have to define healthy boundaries, especially where taking up offense and hurt are concerned. It’s our job to point loved ones in the direction of true Freedom, not try to be their savior. It’s our pride that places us here. The enemy appeals to our Wonder Woman complex that says we can do it all, but ultimately, we are finite beings who serve an infinite God. Our true strength comes when the proverbial purse strap breaks, and we leave the whole bag at the feet of Jesus-the One who came to bear all of our burdens-knowing full well that He can handle our load as well as the ones of eight billion other precious souls. 

In I Peter 5:7, it says “Cast your cares on him, because He cares for you.” The original language for the word “cast” there is the word ephirhippto, which means to “throw away like trash.” I think the thing that really struck me is that Christ wants us to disregard those things that are weighing down. If I throw something away, it’s because it no longer has a viable use in my life. On trash day, you don’t see many people running out to the curb to grab last week’s pizza box so they can carry it around with them all day. But I know I’m not the only one who does this: you prayerfully place something in the arms of Jesus, trusting him to take care of it, only to find yourself worrying about it later. As we worry, we have gone back to the Savior and ripped the situation out of His hands. Worry is believing that God’s Love ends. By worrying about and striving with our problems, we are telling our Lord that we don’t believe He can handle it—that, perhaps, His Love isn’t big enough to reach us in our situation. And there is NOTHING more contrary to the truth!

So, if you’ve stayed with me on my purse story this long, the most important tenet I believe I’m supposed to leave you with is the following: “That’s not my burden.” When you’re tempted to take up that which isn’t yours, speak truth to that lie. Remind yourself, as well as the enemy of your soul, that you aren’t the burden bearer, and it’s not your call to fix everybody. I have to say it to myself all the time, “This is not my burden.” It’s your job to be the light to help them find their way back to the path for those who may have gotten lost. 

Jesus promises us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So, if you’re feeling like it’s just too much to bear lately, it might just be time for you to lighten your load and let Him carry your broken purse for awhile.

So, my purse strap broke last night. I love this purse. It’s not old. But I have this problem of carrying a million things in my purse all the time. It weighs me down. It probably compounds the issues I already have with my shoulder. My whole life is in there. I carry things for my husband and kids constantly. I can never find what I need because there is so much junk in there. People who know me well, know if you need something, I’ll have it in my purse most of the time. If you’re a mom, you know my struggle. I don’t even know how half of the stuff in there even got there.

There was a moment last night that God showed me such a simple thing-an inconvenience really-can have Devine implications. For especially women, we have large hearts of compassion. We want to help people. We are nurturers, caretakers. It’s part of our calling, and it’s one way that God’s DNA is reflected through us. We display a facet of our Creator through our caring, nurturing predisposition.

God reminded me last night that the problem arises when the enemy lies to us and gets us to believe that we aren’t doing enough. He leads us into erroneous thinking that somehow we need to take on burdens that aren’t ours to bear to begin with. Just like my purse, we go through life picking up other people’s stuff and putting it in our “purse”, taking it upon ourselves, under the guise that we will “just pray for them” or “it’s the least we can do”. All the while, the enemy is filling our bag with hurts that aren’t ours, offense for ourselves and others, anger over another’s injustice, and slowly, he steals-our joy, our song, our life- from us. As the too full purse weighs me down and makes my shoulder hurt,making it difficult for me to do what I’m created to do, carrying heavy burdens takes our focus off of the most important things we are each uniquely called to do.

Do we still care for people? Of course. But we have to define healthy boundaries, especially where taking up offense and hurt are concerned. It’s our job to point loved ones in the direction of true Freedom, not try to be their savior. It’s our pride that places us here. The enemy appeals to our Wonder Woman complex that says we can do it all, but ultimately, we are finite beings who serve an infinite God. Our true strength comes when the proverbial purse strap breaks, and we leave the whole bag at the feet of Jesus-the One who came to bear all of our burdens-knowing full well that He can handle our load as well as the ones of eight billion other precious souls. 

In I Peter 5:7, it says “Cast your cares on him, because He cares for you.” The original language for the word “cast” there is the word ephirhippto, which means to “throw away like trash.” I think the thing that really struck me is that Christ wants us to disregard those things that are weighing down. If I throw something away, it’s because it no longer has a viable use in my life. On trash day, you don’t see many people running out to the curb to grab last week’s pizza box so they can carry it around with them all day. But I know I’m not the only one who does this: you prayerfully place something in the arms of Jesus, trusting him to take care of it, only to find yourself worrying about it later. As we worry, we have gone back to the Savior and ripped the situation out of His hands. Worry is believing that God’s Love ends. By worrying about and striving with our problems, we are telling our Lord that we don’t believe He can handle it—that, perhaps, His Love isn’t big enough to reach us in our situation. And there is NOTHING more contrary to the truth!

So, if you’ve stayed with me on my purse story this long, the most important tenet I believe I’m supposed to leave you with is the following: “That’s not my burden.” When you’re tempted to take up that which isn’t yours, speak truth to that lie. Remind yourself, as well as the enemy of your soul, that you aren’t the burden bearer, and it’s not your call to fix everybody. I have to say it to myself all the time, “This is not my burden.” It’s your job to be the light to help them find their way back to the path for those who may have gotten lost. 

Jesus promises us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So, if you’re feeling like it’s just too much to bear lately, it might just be time for you to lighten your load and let Him carry your broken purse for awhile.

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