I listened to a teaching by Ginny Yttrup yesterday, titled You Can Do This! This was my second time listening, yet it was this year that it lit up like a lightbulb. In fact, this post came out of doing what she said to do when you get stuck: Pause, pray, and persevere.

The best place for me to pause is in our hot tub. Although, if you don’t have one, you can do it anywhere. Next, she said, as you pray be honest about your feelings. I feel incapable and inadequate.

God’s response? “Good. Now own that.” I understood that to mean he wants me to be dependent on him.

Okay. Now what? You Say, by Lauren Daigle, one of my all time favorite songs, was playing in the background as I considered what would go into my blog. I had the title, the scriptures, and the gist of the message, but as I listened to the song something stood out. She sang about giving God all our failures and our victories.

I don’t know about you, but my natural tendency is to show off my victories and hide my failures. I’d rather receive praise for what I’ve accomplished or how good I am at something. I fear airing my failures will bring criticism—whether my own or from someone else—and that just affirms my feelings of being incapable and inadequate.

But, I’m going to give God my failures. After all, he wants to lift my burdens.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Taking on Jesus’ yoke? In this day and age the symbolism gets lost, but the message is clear, let him shoulder the load. Let him carry the burden as he walks beside you.

The other scripture that came to mind was this:

With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wow! I can’t do these on my own. Maybe you’re young and fit enough to scale a wall, but I’m pretty sure you’d turn tail and run from an advancing troop. But God is saying whatever comes up against us, whatever blocks our way, we can get through it with him.

So, now’s the time to own it and be truthful. I need God. There’s no shame in that. That’s right where I need to be to get back to work and persevere.

Are you stuck? Do your feelings cause you to sink further into the mud? I encourage you to try these simple steps and see where they take you. if you’re up to it, confess your feelings in the comments and I will pray with you.

Grace & Peace,

Sandy

Picture built in Canva