09/04/2026
WHEN THE WEIGHT GETS TOO HEAVY
Women carry a lot….we just do.
Depending on our families, culture, churches, and even our particular biblical leanings, we may have learned different expectations about what a woman should be and what responsibilities she should carry. But regardless of where those expectations come from, many women eventually find themselves carrying an extraordinary amount.
We carry our families. We carry our children. We carry responsibilities at work and responsibilities at home. We remember the appointments, the schedules, the things that need to be purchased, the things that need to be cleaned, and the things that nobody else seems to remember unless we remember them. Many of us also carry ministry responsibilities, relationships, financial concerns, and the emotional needs of the people around us.
And sometimes, somewhere along the way, we begin carrying things that were never meant to rest entirely on our shoulders.
Then illness enters the picture.
Suddenly, you are not only trying to manage everything everyone else needs. You are trying to manage doctors, appointments, medications, tests, symptoms, insurance, uncertainty, and a body that may no longer cooperate with the life you are trying to live.
And the difficult part is that life often does not stop while you are trying to figure it out!
The children still need you. The bills still come. Work still has expectations. Ministry continues. Responsibilities remain. Dinner still needs to be made, laundry somehow continues reproducing in the dark, and there are still a hundred things waiting for your attention, and sometimes it can feel like your entire world is beginning to cave in around you. And I know that feeling because, if I am honest, that is where I am right now.
Since December, I have spent months trying to understand what has been happening to my body. I have been through symptoms, appointments, testing, uncertainty, fear, and the exhausting process of trying to get answers. Now, thankfully, I have more answers. I have diagnoses. I am healthier than I was. I have returned to work and am trying to navigate what life looks like again. But getting answers does not automatically erase everything you experienced while searching for them.
I am still scared sometimes. I am still struggling with anxiety and stress. I am still trying to understand how to navigate life again after everything that has happened. Recently, my neurologist also expressed his belief that stress may be contributing significantly to many of the symptoms I have experienced since December.
And honestly, that has forced me to stop and ask myself a difficult question: How much have I actually been carrying?Not just over the last several months, but for years.
How much have I carried because I thought I was supposed to? How much have I carried because someone needed something and I was the one available? How much have I carried because I did not know how to put it down? How much have I carried until carrying became so normal that I no longer recognized the weight of it?
Scripture gives us permission to acknowledge when we are overwhelmed.
Psalm 61:2 says, “From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety.” And just a few verses later, David writes about finding shelter beneath God’s wings. I love that picture right now. Because sometimes faith does not look like standing tall with everything under control. Sometimes faith looks like admitting that you are overwhelmed and running toward the only safe place you know.
Sometimes we need to crawl beneath the Father’s wings and simply say, “I cannot carry all of this right now. I need You to hold me.” Jesus Himself said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NLT) He did not say, “Come to Me once you have figured everything out.” He said, come weary. Come carrying heavy burdens. Come exhausted. Come overwhelmed. Come afraid…
And sometimes we bring Him our burdens and leave them there. Sometimes we bring them to Him, surrender them, and then pick them back up again fifteen minutes later. Then we realize what we have done and bring them back to Him. And sometimes we may have to do that a thousand times!
I am learning that repeatedly returning a burden to God does not mean I have failed at surrender. It means I am continuing to surrender. God does not tell us that we only get one opportunity to come back to Him.
Psalm 55:22 says, “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you.”
So if I have to bring the same burden back to Him tomorrow, then I will bring it back tomorrow. And if I have to bring it back the next day, I will bring it back again. Because I would rather repeatedly place my burden into His hands than pretend I am strong enough to carry it myself. And sisters, this is also why we need each other.
Galatians 6:2 tells us to “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”
That means we have to be willing to admit that we have burdens. It means sometimes saying, “I am not okay right now.” So I want to say that plainly. I am struggling right now. I love God. I trust God. I know His Word. I teach His Word. And I am still struggling. Those things are not contradictions…
Struggling does not mean we have failed God. Being afraid does not mean we have no faith. Being overwhelmed does not mean God has abandoned us. Sometimes we are simply human beings living through circumstances that are heavier than we were ever meant to carry alone. And that is why community matters.
Formed Through Fire Ministry is not supposed to be a place where women come pretending that they have everything together. We are a body. We are sisters in Christ. We have ministers, Rising Leaders, and women walking alongside one another. If you are overwhelmed, please tell somebody. If you are struggling, please do not isolate yourself. If life feels like it is caving in around you, you do not have to become stronger before you are allowed to ask for help.
We can pray for one another. We can listen to one another. We can remind each other of truth when one of us is too exhausted or overwhelmed to see clearly. We can help carry one another through difficult seasons. And most importantly, we can keep taking it all to God.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Even if today is surrender number 1,001. So today, I am bringing my burdens back to the Father. I am bringing Him my fear. My anxiety. My stress. My uncertainty. The things I understand and the things I still do not understand. And I am choosing to rest beneath His wings. Not because everything is fixed. Not because I suddenly have all the answers. But because I know where to go when the weight gets too heavy. And if you are carrying more than you can bear right now, sister, there is room beneath His wings for you too!!!
