Have You seen Her today?

Have you seen her today?

You know the one I am talking about.

The one that can't seem to get it together over there in her wrinkled up t-shirt dress that's crumpled up from laying on the floor; the one she just wore yesterday.

The one with her hair in a messy bun with her greasy roots showing, because she just ran out of dry hair shampoo with the first spray.

The one with yesterday's make up on, because she fell into her bed last night exhausted from the day and ran out the door this morning with no time to spare.

The one pulling into the school parking lot at the end of line trying not to cry, because she has been fighting with her child this morning and she feels guilty about the words that just came out of her mouth; thinking how did she let herself get to that point?

The one trying to hold herself accountable to drink more water and less iced coffee, because she has already been jittery from the amount of caffeine it takes to keep her going all day.

The one eating her kid's snacks, because she hasn't been treating her body well. Her blood sugar is dropping, and she doesn't have time or the extra money to pull through another drive through.

Don't worry, she knows the thoughts you are thinking; she has already thought them herself.

"She is a hot mess, and she really needs to get it together," 

Are the thoughts going through her mind as she sees you whisper to your friend as you are looking over at her in the grocery store.

She can't take any "more"

She is struggling. She is trying but she is worn out and overwhelmed. She needs a friend to confide in, but she is afraid of what they may say about her this time. She can't take anymore.

She mentally can’t afford to be hurt like the last time she trusted someone and let them in; she considered her a friend.

Not a friend she met at the mall, the gym, or a bar. 

No, a friend she met a church. The one place she thought she would be safe to reach out, to be loved, to trust, and try again.

She was hurt by the church. She was hurt by the people in the building, but now she knows she wasn't hurt by Jesus. She felt the sting of rejection when she fell victim to seeking validation from the imperfect members that make up the body of Christ.

She didn't fit into the mold of her assigned ladies connect group. She didn't fit in with the other wives whose marriages were seemingly perfect. She didn't fit in with the other mothers whose children hadn't been led astray. She didn't fit. She was loved into the church and then hurt right out the door.

She doesn't know where to turn, she is suffering alone in silence, and clinging to her tear- stained pillow as she falls asleep alone at night. Alone, yet she isn't the only one in her bed. Her husband loves her, they both are experiencing More.....

She is struggling to believe she is enough and longing to feel adequate. It wasn't supposed to be this way, yet she doesn't quite know how she thought it was supposed to be. She knows she can't go on like this, she has had more than she can handle, she has had enough. She has suffered alone in silence and been consumed by fear long enough.

She has been afraid of what other "Christians" would think if they knew the troubles she has faced. She has been afraid she would be judged for experiencing anxiety and being fearful. She sought out friends in the church for validation and the "religious" dismissed her concerns and downplayed the source of the fear she was experiencing. There was no way she could have faith and be in fear. There was no way she could have faith and still be anxious and suffering from anxiety or battling depression.

She knows there is joy in her heart that comes from the Lord that gives her strength. They forgot in their judgmental snares that God doesn't dismiss our troubles and fear, but HE delivers us from them all.

She could be you.

She could be me. 

Have you seen her?

The overwhelmed one…..

The one sitting in her car holding her head in her hands crying out, "I can't do this anymore;"

the overwhelmed mom, the wife, the sister, the friend.

The one who sits alone in her driveway for five minutes of peace and calls it self care. She doesn't want to face the reality of the mess inside her home, she already feels like a failure. The dishes are piled and overflowing out of the sink, the laundry waiting to be washed, the load in the dryer, and the load pilled up in the chair spilling into the floor. She loves her family and is thankful for her life, but she is overwhelmed. She's not looking to leave but she needs a way out from the burden that's too heavy that she can't bear.

Have you seen her today, is she you?

I found her, I seen a glimpse of her through the sleep in my eyes this morning in my mirror.

I awakened early to the sound of the dogs barking at Rosie the Robot vacuuming the hardwood floors on her set schedule. The floors in this house are ruthless. No one informed me of the copious amounts of sand that our five Doodles would track in from doing their zoomies around our yard.

Arise and shine.

The laundry was pulled high on the bathroom floor, right beside the wicker hamper I placed by the shower; it really is a lovely decoration. The dishes are pilled a mile high out both sides of the deep farmhouse sink, and the trash needs to be taken out to the curb.

My phone was ringing, my email was dinging, and there was a knock at my door. The dogs went from barking to some sort of full-on howling; they had to protect me from the man knocking on our door carrying the packages.

Calling out from my bedroom door, "just leave them right there on the porch."

The time was slipping away quickly, and we needed to get out the door. I had fifteen minutes to get my son to school and I hadn't even made breakfast. Cereal it is; again.

I wasn't even out of my bedroom yet and it was feeling like a day of "more;" of more than I could handle, and I wasn't okay. I was overwhelmed from trying to do it all my way.

It’s okay to not be ok sometimes, I know I read that somewhere. It's okay to not have it all together like we expected, like we had planned.

Often times our expectations set us up for disappointment when things are happening differently than we expected. You are not a failure. God knows what HE is doing. HIS plans are far better than ours.

You may have reached your breaking point and could not handle anything else, only to have one more thing go wrong. It happens, there is nothing wrong with you for crying out to God for relief. As a matter of fact, I believe that's what these days are for. We are not self-sufficient, no matter what we have been told. We are quite the opposite; we are dependent on an all sufficient God that knows the details of the plan for our lives.

in the "more" of your life, Jesus is with you

Have you seen her today in your mirror, on the day of More?

The day you have found yourself saying “I cannot take any - More”

I want to encourage you that 

In the “More” of your life, Jesus is with you.

The “More” that has left you feeling weak is where you will feel HIS strength.

Just know sweet friend,

The “More” is handled in His Grace.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 we read:

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

In the “More” of your life, Jesus is with you.

The “More” you face is handled in HIS Grace.

In the More .....

of the Heartache that has left you shattered,

of the Pain that has left you feeling hopeless,

of the Loss that has left you broken,

of the Rejection that has left you feeling alone,

of the Fear that you cannot handle anymore,

Know, that you are not alone.

HE sees you; HE knows you feel like if one more thing comes at you that you will not make it through, HE knows you don’t see a way.

HE knows.

You cannot do this on your own, HE is your strength, and HE has made a way.

HE knows there have been times that you have been angry with HIM.

If you are being honest, you are upset because your whole life you have been told that God would not put more on you than you could handle. Life wouldn't give you more than you could bear, yet here you are feeling the burden of the heavy load you can't seem to release.

You found yourself standing right in the middle of what seems more than humanly possible to handle and you're confused, feeling cheated and lied to. You have been questioning God and wondering what you have done wrong. You have been hurt, you have been angry, and you have been questioning if you could even trust HIM. You have been questioning is God really here with you, if HE really is for you.

Find comfort today in knowing, HE Is. HE is for you and you can still go through more than you can bear alone.

The “More” is designed this way, as hard as that is to accept. 

HE is with you

And

His Grace will carry you through the “More.”

Sweet friend be encouraged today,

God is right there with you; HE is in control. HE is Faithful to HIS Word.

god has made a way

God never promised that the trials we face would not overwhelm us. In Psalm 34:4 we read "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."

Fear will come, there will be times when we will be overwhelmed and cry out for reprieve. HE will deliver us from our fears. There will also be times of MORE.

The misinformation you have been told your entire life is a lie based off of a half truth. Unfortunately, half truths are a whole lie. The sentiment is comforting and partly true. God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, because HE will make a way of escape for you.

HE will also allow more, actually in scripture we read in ~1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

This scripture the comforting sentiment was derived from, in full context is about God not allowing us to be tempted in sin that HE will not make a way of escape for us. We will be overwhelmed but in sin we will not be tempted that HE will not make a way out.

There will be times when you feel like you just can’t take anymore, maybe you can't but we read HE will make a way out of it for you. HE will deliver you from your fears and HE will make a way of escape out of the sin you may be in.

This promise of God has become abbreviated and the scripture has been misused throughout our lives and this well meaning “good advice” has left us feeling cheated. 

The Word does not say that, 

“God will never give you 

or 

He will never put more on you than you can handle.”

This “good advice” we have been given throughout our lives when we find ourselves in troubled times has merely comforted us for a moment but then has left us wondering Why. 

Why Lord, why me. 

I just can’t see a way. 

He has given us a Way..... 

HE is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. 

You are not alone.

HE is with you.

These moments remind us that we can not do it all by ourselves in our own strength, through these trials and heartache we learn to trust in HIM. 

When we are weak, HE is Strong.

HE is Stronger than the strong in this world, and HE is mighty to save.

She doesn't need another one talking behind her back or telling her where she has fallen short. She doesn't need a savior, she already has ONE. HE will deliver her from her fears and HE will make a way of escape out of her sin. She needs a friend to listen, to pray with her and for her, and remind her that HE is near.

Once we look beyond our own selves and past our self righteous judgments.....we see the pain, the suffering, the trial, and severe testing that others around us are enduring. The ones that are overwhelmed that need the Burden Bearer to handle the More.

Have you seen her?

She needs you to give God advice when she seeks wise counsel over your own good advice of half truths. It's time for the church to be the church and love the ones that don't look the same; that don't look like me and you. To love the ones that sin differently, that don't have it all together. The hot mess that needs to get it together, because she needs Jesus.

We all need Jesus.

We were once her, you still could be.

If you see her today, remind her that HIS Grace is sufficient 

and encourage her that HIS Grace will carry her through. 

If you are her today..... be encouraged that HE is the ultimate burden bearer. 

HE will give you rest. 

HE is our peace. 

Though these storms of life come upon us we are given the opportunity for our Faith in HIM to Arise.

For us to know that HE alone is Able.

HE is able.

HE will be with us.

HE will deliver us. 

HIS Grace will carry us through.

HE is our Hope.

You can trust HIM. Jesus didn't hurt you, the imperfect body that makes up the church did.

Forgive them, love them, pray for them, and call them blessed.

One more time, to try again.

Xo,

B~ The Girl in The Blue House