We all have those days or weeks when everything seems to go wrong, and you feel like you can’t catch a break. Last week it was my turn. It was going to be a very busy week even if everything went according to plan and there were no surprises. I had a lot of personal and professional commitments, several of which required travel. Additionally, my husband was going to be out of town for most of the week for work. That left me to handle anything unexpected that came up at home without my partner and sounding board.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a strong, independent person. I’m comfortable making decisions; I’m usually pretty good in handling unexpected situations and solving problems. I don’t mind being alone – in fact, I crave it from time to time. But on my terms. Not when the world seems to be throwing everything in my path to trip me up or piling everything on my back to knock me down. And that, my friends, was last week.
The details aren’t important, but whether it was sitting in construction zone after construction zone as I burned gas running from appointment to appointment, home and then back out for an evening meeting. Or being out of town at a work event only to receive a call from a family member that my aging father who lives with us fell and chose to walk 150 yards to their house in 98-degree weather for help. Having a situation at work with an outside person that was frustrating and unnecessary and felt like the proverbial “no good deed goes unpunished.” I am blessed to have an amazing boss and I love my job; but even it wasn’t immune to the attacks of last week. Add two unexpected doctor’s appointments for my dad – and a cancelled one for me so I could take him (one I’d been trying to schedule for months), some spilled coffee on my favorite white shirt. That was my week in a nutshell.
The good news is my dad is fine. Just some bruises and racoon eyes. Nothing serious. But it does raise serious questions that I have to deal with. As an only child, the burden of those decisions often weighs me down and this week it just added to an already overwhelmed Rhonda. Cue the violins.
Welcome to my pity party. My boss was invited. My husband got his invitation via phone. My daughter got hers when she got home from work. I simply felt sorry for myself, and I needed people to know. I wanted them to feel sorry for me. I wanted them to tell me it was going to be ok. That this, too, shall pass. To validate that I felt buried under responsibility and frustrating situations and people. I wanted them to say, “it isn’t fair.”
And while I did receive encouragement from all of my party friends, I realized that the one person that should have been first on my list wasn’t. I didn’t invite Jesus. I prayed in frustration, absolutely. I prayed asking “When do I get a break?” I prayed for pity. I prayed for validation. But I never invited Jesus to the party.
Why? I still struggle with self-reliance. It isn’t that I don’t think I need God and Jesus, but rather that I should be able to handle these basic life inconveniences without running to God. Like He’s going to be disappointed, thinking, “Oh geez, here’s Rhonda again! When is she going to finally figure this out and stop bothering me?” I don’t like to disappoint people, and I especially don’t like the thought of disappointing God. So, I wallowed in my overblown world of pity rather than invite the One who could bring me relief. What I experienced last week was nothing serious. It’s kind of embarrassing to look back and realize how I let it get me down. But I’ve also learned that I need to feel my emotions and not suppress them. But I don’t need to live in them. Last week, I pitched a tent and brough out the smores.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus was talking about freeing believers from the traditions and laws of the Pharisees (Luke 11:46). He was introducing a purer and more spiritual way of worship. To be in relationship with Jesus. So, while this verse was written referring to burdens of law and tradition, it still applies to the burdens we carry in our lives. The responsibilities, the commitments, the requirements. While not imposed by a legalistic church, they are imposed by worldly demands and personal expectations.
Jesus doesn’t promise us that life is always going to be easy. Salvation doesn’t come with an exemption from difficult weeks, months, years. No. It comes with something far, far better. It comes with a savior who loves you so much that regardless of where you are on this worldly journey, He waits for you to come to Him. To give Him that backpack loaded with the burdens of the day. He wants to lighten your load as only He can. No one has carried a burden larger than Jesus. Jesus chose to carry the burden of mankind’s sin. He chose to be betrayed, beaten, and crucified so that He could carry your load. All for you.
Jesus invites ALL to come to him. All in Strong’s concordance is defined as, “All, the whole, every kind of.” No question about who Jesus meant. He didn’t say, “all who are worthy.” Or, “all who have tried hard enough.” No, He simply said, “Come to me, ALL, who are weary and burdened.” And He ends by promising us a gift: rest. Rest means “to refresh.” We don’t have to do anything to receive this gift of refreshment. We simply need to accept it. Just as we accept His gift of salvation.
Being in relationship means sharing the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, the accomplishments and embarrassments. But mostly, it means sharing yourself. Crazy week or awesome week, you need Jesus.
More than anything, Jesus wants to be invited to the party. Whether it’s a pity party or a celebration, He waits for an invitation. He’s not going to crash your party. He loves you too much. But He is right outside, patiently waiting for you to say, “I’ve got a special seat just for you. Please come join the party.”
I encourage you to remember to go to Jesus first and always, not matter the circumstance. His sacrifice was so that you could live with Him and He in you.
For this week’s prayer, visit https://simplyjoy.online/prayers/come-to-my-party/
Amen!!!