I recently misread the following statement during my morning devotional time. Instead of seeing, “Your life is meant to be lived with joy,” I mistakenly read it as, “Your life is meant to be lived with you.”
The misinterpreted statement gave me pause. Could it be that joy has gone missing because I have gone AWOL from my own life?
Instead of bringing all of me to each moment, I sometimes find myself offering bits and pieces. Fragments scraped together to portray what I deem others need from me. Scrambling to live up to expectations from without and within, I neglect my true self. No wonder life feels heavy when I am weighed down with self-imposed pressures.
I would do well to follow the directive of Jesus in Matthew 11:29-30:
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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Suffice it to say, I’m a poor student. Instead of taking Jesus’ yoke upon my shoulders, I become my own teacher and think I know best what burdens to bear. In truth, I am not to bear ANY of them. I am merely to lean into the yoke with my Savior and allow His strength to steer the course and carry the brunt of this world’s weight. No matter how heavy or light the load.
My life was meant to be lived with the purest form of me, devoted to the purposes of God.
And yet I cannot seem to restrain myself from over-striving. Creating no margin for rest, I stuff my life full of responsibilities and tasks and goals — too many of which are not mine to own. Yet somehow become mine, nonetheless. And I am left wondering why I feel so empty and shallow, a mere shell of my potential. Seeds of faith and God-dreams lie dormant, suffocated as I allow the footsteps of others to trample them deeply.
If you find yourself in similar circumstances, I invite you to join me on this journey of reclaiming yourself. It’s time to discover you in Christ and begin to make room for that version to rise to the surface and be present throughout your days. Do the things that bring life to your soul. Pursue those desires placed in you since the breath of your creation. Make space for your dreams, and do what you were born to do.
Your life needs you, my friend. As mine needs me.
Mind you, this is not an excuse to walk away from others, neglecting their needs, or cease loving them as you are able. This is an invitation to walk toward yourself. To move in close to Father and ask Him to deal gently with you, and through you, as you seek to become more fully known. To rediscover joy even as you discover or rediscover yourself. It’s an invitation to stop disappearing from your own life as you rush to meet one need after another.
Your life is meant to be lived with you and with joy. I doubt you will fully experience one without the other. That’s right, you will not experience the fullness of joy if your true self continues to be absent from daily life. Likewise, when you give yourself the gift of pursuing those passions given you by God, you will find joy peeking around every corner. It can’t help but show up when you are fulfilling your God-breathed purpose.
So let’s give ourselves permission to be ourselves. Promise to show up in your own life. Stop neglecting your own feelings because you’ve been too busy feeling everyone else’s. Stop disappearing. And let yourself be found.
After all, your life is meant to be lived with you.
You.
In Christ.
Complete and full of joy.
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FOR REFLECTION
It can be tricky to balance living selflessly and serving others while still taking care of your own soul in the process. Most of us tend to fluctuate to one extreme or the other. And feel guilty no matter which end of the spectrum we fall on?
Does it ever feel like you have gone missing from your own life?
Do you struggle to differentiate between selflessness and self-care?
Does the responsibility of over-caring for others weigh you down and press the joy out of you?
Are there passions and dreams God has placed in your heart that seem to fall by the wayside as you rush to meet the needs of others?
Ask Jesus to help you make wise choices as you care for others and yourself. Write a list of tangible steps you can take toward reclaiming a dream that is in your heart. Then take at least one of those steps this week, even if it is a small one.