A Prayer for Carrying More Than You Were Made to Carry
In this raw and deeply personal episode, Rachel Wojo shares the moment something inside her broke. Not because God hadn't made her strong enough, but because she had been carrying things He never handed her in the first place.
Moses found himself in the same place in Exodus 18, judging every dispute in Israel from morning until evening, until his father-in-law Jethro watched for one day and said plainly: this is not good. The work is too heavy for you. Not a gentle encouragement to pace yourself — a clear-eyed diagnosis that something had to change. Rachel spent years believing the only options were carrying everything or giving up entirely. But Jethro offered Moses a third way, the one God had intended all along: carry what is yours, and let others carry the rest. Letting someone help is not a sign of weakness or failure. It is, as Rachel eventually discovered, one of the most loving things you can do for everyone around you — and for yourself.
Today's Bible Verse
"What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone." — Exodus 18:17-18, NIV
Ponder Today
- You may be carrying things God never handed you. Not every burden on your shoulders was placed there by Him. Some were picked up out of pride, fear, or the belief that asking for help meant failing. Ask God to show you the difference.
- Exhaustion is not the same as faithfulness. Confusing the two keeps us from the relief God is offering. A willingness to suffer under an impossible load is not a virtue when God has already provided a better way.
- There is a third option beyond carrying everything or giving up. Jethro's counsel to Moses was not to quit but to redistribute. Carry what is yours. Release what isn't. Let God work through others to carry the rest.
- You were made to carry something — but not everything, and never alone. This is not a personal failing. It is how God designed the whole thing from the beginning, a Body that bears one another's burdens, held together by Him.
A Prayer for You Today
Heavenly Father, I come to You today tired in a way sleep doesn't fix. You see the load I have been carrying — what is mine and what I picked up along the way without anyone asking me to. I have been telling myself that a stronger person could handle this, and a better Christian wouldn't need help. Those are lies. Show me what is mine to carry and what was never mine in the first place. Give me the humility to set down what isn't from You, and the courage to ask for help with what is. Forgive me for confusing exhaustion with faithfulness. Thank You that You gave Moses a Jethro — and that You have placed people in my life who can see what I can't yet admit. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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