{"id":2977,"date":"2018-01-20T17:50:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T17:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.wordpress.com\/?p=2977"},"modified":"2018-01-20T17:50:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-20T17:50:49","slug":"weary-and-burdened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/?p=2977","title":{"rendered":"Weary and Burdened"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

John 16.33<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no way to soften the message here. Jesus is pretty straightforward. \u00a0Life is going to be hard. \u00a0Expect it to be so. \u00a0And when life is hard for a while, or even longer, we will get weary and wear down and sometimes we will get stuck in tunnel vision where all we see is the difficulty, the pain. \u00a0This is a recipe for drowning. \u00a0For when the pain, the hard, is all we can see, we quickly sink deep into the mire. \u00a0In these times we must remember, we must remind each other, to step away, if only for a moment, and receive something good. \u00a0Something to strengthen our hearts and our spirits.<\/p>\n

Outside in nature is often where I get refreshed. \u00a0It quiets and soothes me. \u00a0I get centered. \u00a0A simple sunrise invites me to seek out the new mercies that come with every morning. \u00a0Fragrant orange blossoms cause me to pause and just breathe their beautiful aroma. \u00a0Even the cactus nudges me to look for the goodness within the most prickly of people.<\/p>\n

I bumped into a friend and her family the other day after church – at a restaurant. \u00a0They were in their hiking clothes. \u00a0Not their church clothes. \u00a0 I understood immediately. \u00a0Getting out and under that great big sky is such a wonderful place to find renewal. \u00a0Knowing I would be compelled to explain the hiking clothes to a fellow church goer, to explain my good reason for skipping out on what I consider a high priority, I tried to gently, in a very friendly way, notice her attire. \u00a0I didn’t want her walking away feeling caught playing hooky. \u00a0Of course, she said the exact thing I would have said, “We needed a family hike today.” \u00a0I think she would have done more explaining, justifying, if I hadn’t quickly slipped in my, “Oh, I get it.” \u00a0And I did.<\/p>\n

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.<\/span> Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.<\/span> For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew 11:28-30<\/span><\/p>\n

When life is hard, we must make time to “come to Jesus”. \u00a0We must figure out where it is easiest for us to meet up with Him. \u00a0A long drive? \u00a0A coffee shop? \u00a0In bed with a good book? \u00a0Baking cookies? \u00a0Head phones and music? \u00a0Figure it out. \u00a0Ask Him to show you. \u00a0He knows a place, He knows the way and He wants to lighten your burden.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16.33 There is no way to soften the message here. Jesus is pretty straightforward. \u00a0Life is going to be hard. \u00a0Expect it to be so. \u00a0And when life is hard for a while, or even longer, we will get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}