Bought the Tee Shirt!

They aren’t your burdens to carry.

Most likely we have all been there. The decisions that your loved ones have made affect you.

A sister who has an addiction and won’t get help, preferring her addiction to her family.
A daughter who goes back to an abusive relationship.
A brother who won’t work and take care of his obligations.
The aging parent who has decided he doesn’t need help at home because of his pride and falls to only break a leg.
A son who has found himself in jail and needs you for bail money.

Their decisions affect you. We want to help, but we shouldn’t enable. We feel bad for the situation, but after helping over and over…their choices continue to be bad ones. There are consequences to all our choices.

The addiction breaks the hearts of the family members who constantly try and help. Yet, she won’t help herself. The abusive relationship starts back up again and you are the one to whom she runs. The brother comes to you for money for groceries and it will affect your budget if you give more to him again. The parent now needs constant care and working full time makes it very difficult to be the daughter you want to be for him. The son, who you loved and raised the best you know how makes you feel guilty because you think a night in jail might do him some good.

You worry about it all. You carry the burdens. You can’t sleep.

Folks, we aren’t Jesus. We cannot fix it. Sure we are to be there for people…but when they make the same destructive choices over and over…we cannot fix it. HE is the only one that can give rest. We just love without condition; yet don’t enable.

At that point prayer is our biggest weapon. And we must allow Jesus to carry the burden, like only He can.

The issues may not go away, but our response and ownership of others’ problems can.

Our hearts our broken and we cannot fix it. Only He can my friends. This I know to be true. I bought the tee shirt, remember?

May your burdens be light my friends.

IN CHRIST ALONE