Devotional: The burden of caring

“Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you” Psalm 55:22

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares about you” 1 Peter 5:7

Are you ever exhausted by the constant caring?

Do you ever feel you need to know it all, be it all, do it all?

What do you do or how do you feel when you don’t know how to do the maths homework your child is asking for help with…

Or if someone asks you a question you feel you should know the answer to - but don’t?

It’s very easy to feel inadequate and vulnerable at these times.

Do you sometimes wonder how your child or loved one can respect you and have confidence in you if you don’t know the answer or can’t help them? 

Thankfully there is a way to use these situations to help them build confidence in themselves and take the responsibility for that off you. 

It is all about modelling.  

Children and adults watch how other people respond to situations where they don’t know what to do and don’t know what the answer is. 

They will watch you.

They will observe your emotions, your face, your body language, what you say about the situation and about yourself. 

Then, they will often copy your response - internalise it themselves as a big part of their own understanding of who they are, how to face challenges, and how to be confident.  

So, if your response to not knowing the answer is: ‘oh no…I don’t know… I’m not very good at maths…I never was…I’m stupid….’, they may eventually learn from that, the following lesson about themselves. ‘If there is something I can’t do or don’t know at the moment, this means I am stupid and inadequate and I can’t solve the problem, I am helpless’.  

However, if your response is: ‘well I don’t know how to do that maths problem at the moment, but I enjoy learning and I am curious about what the answer is…let me just go and look it up or ask a friend and work it out, then we can talk about it later’. 

We pray the individual will eventually learn from this about themselves: ‘if there is something I don’t know, I don’t need to be scared, it is just an opportunity to learn. I can change, learn and grow with help’. 

We weren’t created to have it all together!

We weren’t created to know everything or be totally independent.

We are created to cast everything on Jesus. To model surrender, vulnerability and authenticity to those around us. 

So don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know an answer - these are precious opportunities to model a confident, positive and Christlike response. You will be respected more for it, and others will learn more from you as a result.

POINT TO PONDER:

Are you carrying and taking on too much as your responsibility?

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, you say that we’re to cast our burdens on you. Help me to see where I am carrying more than you intended for me. Your yoke is easy, so when I’m feeling the strain, help me to stop, reflect and shed the weight that I’m carrying unnecessarily. Thank you and praise you for not creating me to be independent of You. I take off the burden of ……. and walk a step lighter today. Thank you Jesus, Amen!”