When Life Gets Heavy
Have you ever noticed that life can just feel heavy?
There is a certain gravity to the world we live in. Some days it feels like you are walking through water. For some of us, that heaviness comes from difficult choices at home. For others, it is the constant pressure at work or the feeling that we are just one mistake away from everything falling apart.
We often try to manage this weight by ignoring it or trying to “fix” ourselves with better habits. But there is a deeper reason for the gravity we feel.
The Great Fall
We all know the story of Humpty Dumpty. He sat on a wall, he had a great fall, and despite all the resources of the kingdom, he could not be put back together again.
Many of us are living in the “after” of a great fall.
Maybe it was a relationship that shattered, a career path that took a sudden turn, or a personal struggle that left you feeling like a version of yourself you barely recognize. We try to pick up the pieces, but the cracks still show.
And every day, we feel the weight of those broken pieces.
Understanding the Mark
In church, we often use the word sin, and for many people that word carries a lot of baggage. But the original language of the New Testament uses a word called hamartia. It is an archery term that simply means “to miss the mark.”
Think of it this way: God has a target for your life. It is a life marked by health, wholeness, and purpose.
When we “miss the mark,” it is not just about breaking a rule. It is about missing out on the life we were created to live.
Every time we miss that mark, it is like adding another stone to the backpack we are carrying. Eventually the weight becomes exhausting.
We were never designed to carry the weight of our own mistakes.
The Debt Cancellation
The good news is found in a letter written to a group of people in a city called Colossae.
The Apostle Paul explains that when we were dead in our “missing the mark,” God made us alive with Christ.
He didn’t just tell us to try harder.
Instead, He took the legal debt that stood against us—the record of every time we missed the mark—and set it aside. How did He do it?
He nailed it to the cross.
Imagine the relief of having a massive financial debt completely wiped clean. That is what Jesus does with the spiritual and emotional weight you are carrying.
He takes the heavy burden and replaces it with His grace.
Choosing the Unheavy Life
Jesus famously said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
In our modern language, we might say His way of life is “unheavy.”
Becoming a disciple of Jesus doesn’t mean your life will suddenly be free of challenges. It means you are no longer carrying the weight of the world on your own shoulders.
It means trading the heavy burden of trying to fix yourself for the life that Jesus offers.
If you feel like Humpty Dumpty today, know this: while the world’s resources might not be able to put you back together, the King can.
Putting It Into Practice
So how do we begin living this “unheavy” life?
It starts with a simple exchange.
1. Acknowledge the Weight
Be honest about what is making life feel heavy right now. Is it a secret you are keeping? A mistake you cannot forgive yourself for?
Naming the weight is the first step toward releasing it.
2. Hand Over the Debt
Visualize those mistakes being nailed to the cross. Remind yourself that the debt has already been paid. You do not have to keep trying to pay it off.
3. Adopt the Rhythm
Look at the way Jesus lived. He prioritized rest, prayer, and community. When we begin to follow His rhythms, the gravity of the world does not pull quite as hard.
You do not have to carry the weight any longer.
You can set it down today.
Choose the life that is unheavy, and let the King begin the work of putting the pieces back together.
Beyond The New Year Resolution
We have all been there. January 1st rolls around, and we are ready to unlock the better version of ourselves. We might call it “Me 2.0.” We set the goals, buy the equipment, and maybe even try the latest wellness fads from red light therapy masks to extreme new diets.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be healthier or more productive. But if we are honest, there is often an “it” in our lives that a new gym membership or a better schedule just cannot reach.
Identifying the “It”
The “it” is that internal weight we carry into every new year. For some, it is a persistent feeling of not being good enough. For others, it is anxiety, loneliness, or an addiction we have been trying to shake for years. We hope that if we just change our external circumstances, the internal struggle will disappear.
But external fads will never fix internal fractures.
True change requires something deeper than a new habit; it requires a renovation of the soul.
A Different Kind of Question
In the Gospel of John, Jesus approaches a man who had been disabled for 38 years. He was sitting by a pool called Bethesda, hoping for a miracle. Jesus looks at him and asks a question that seems almost offensive: “Do you want to get well?”.
It seems like an obvious “yes,” but for many of us, we have become comfortable in our “un-wellness.” We have built our lives around our struggles. Getting well means changing our identity, and that can be a terrifying prospect.
Three Steps Toward Wholeness
If you feel stuck in a cycle of trying and failing to change, the story of the man at the pool offers three practical shifts in perspective:
1. Stop Looking in the Wrong Place
The man in the story was staring at the water, waiting for a physical stir to heal him. He was so focused on the “method” that he almost missed the Healer standing right in front of him. We often do the same by looking to money, relationships, or career success to fix our internal ache.
2. Choose Courage Over Comfort
Saying “yes” to Jesus takes immense courage. It means stepping out of the familiar and into a life where you no longer have the “it” as an excuse for why you are stuck. It is a step of faith that requires us to trust His power more than our own history.
3. Embrace the Awkwardness
This man had not walked in nearly four decades. When he finally stood up, his first steps were likely shaky and strange. Spiritual growth is the same way. When you start following Jesus or practicing new disciplines, it will feel awkward at first. You might stumble. That is not a sign of failure; it is a sign of new life.
The Path Forward
Discipleship is not about a quick fix or a 30 day challenge. It is the process of allowing Jesus to renovate your life from the inside out. This year, instead of just chasing a “new you,” consider chasing the one who can make you whole.
What is one step you can take today? Maybe it is simply being honest with God about your “it” and asking Him for the courage to get well. He is standing right there, ready to help you take that first, awkward step.
Day 11: April 6
Sometimes you want someone in your life to understand something so badly that you think of several different ways to tell them. Marketing experts say a message has to be repeated a number of times (and in different ways) before a potential customer becomes an actual customer.
In Luke 15, we see this principle play out. Luke has grouped three of Jesus’s parables, and all of them have a similar message. It’s Luke’s way of saying, “Hey, I’ve carefully investigated and documented what I think people need to know about Jesus. And there’s one topic in particular I need to camp on because it’s so important.”
The three parables are about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. At the end of each parable, Jesus gives the bottom line. Listen to how similar the main points are:
- At the end of the lost sheep parable, Jesus said, “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
- At the end of the lost coin parable: “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
- And, finally, at the end of the lost son parable: “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
All three parables are about something that was gone—lost. But then it was found. A relationship was restored.
A couple of things stand out. The main takeaway regarding these parables is that God is in the restoration business. He longs for people to come to him.
But notice something else. In all three parables, there’s a celebration. It’s one thing for people to come to God, or come back to God… but when that happens, it’s cause for pause. When someone who was far from God is brought near to him because of the work of Jesus, it calls for celebration!
May we never get tired of God’s work of restoration. Anytime someone begins (or resumes) their walk with God, it’s nothing short of miraculous, and it’s a sign to us that God is still very much at work.
That’s it for this time. Read Chapters 17 and 18 to get ready for the next one.
Prayer: “Heavenly Father, thank you for making it possible for me to come to you and call you Father. When I see someone begin to walk with you, help me mark those moments to remember you are still at work. Amen.”
Day 10: April 4
Sometimes Jesus would say something that was hard to hear—something that would upset some people or at the very least cause them to rethink something they had originally thought. And a lot of times, Jesus would save those heart-piercing statements for his closest friends, his disciples.
But in Chapter 14, we read where Jesus said something to a large crowd of people that surely caused everyone to get quiet and maybe ask, Did I hear him correctly? Here’s what he said in verses 26 and 27. And remember, he’s speaking to a lot of people—people who had made the choice to give up part of their day to be around him.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”
Wait, what? I’ve got to hate my family to be a Jesus follower? Well, no. Of course not. It would be counter to the entire ethic of the New Testament to hate your enemies, much less your family members. So if Jesus wasn’t being literal here, what’s he talking about? And why did he use such strong words to get his point across?
It’s worth remembering the original setting where Jesus first said this. He knew that following him, showing loyalty to him, could come at a great cost for people. In the not-too-distant future, he would be seen as a criminal to some. If you were a known Jesus follower, your reputation and perhaps even your life might be in danger.
So this was Jesus’s way of asking, Are you absolutely sure you want to follow me? Because the amount of resolve it will take, the commitment it will take, the sacrifice it will take to be an all-in follower of me makes the loyalty you have to your family pale in comparison. Are you really in?
It can be hard to follow Jesus. It takes praying for strength and wisdom to follow Jesus. It’s hard to forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it, but we’re better at life when we do. It’s hard to love someone who isn’t very lovable, but it makes our lives better when we do. It’s hard to put the needs and well-being of others before our own.
Following Jesus can be hard and it comes at a cost, but we become better at life and those around us benefit when we do.
Before the next session, read Luke Chapters 15 and 16.
Prayer: “Heavenly Father, give me wisdom as I look to follow Jesus. Amen.”
Day Three: March 18
The Jews had known for several thousand years that God promised to use Abraham and his descendants as influential people. Prophets for many generations foretold of a day Israel would have its own land and be a blessing to the entire world. And one day a new king was going to lead them and represent them. Not only was this king going to make them a great nation, but he would help restore what was a broken relationship with God.
But after years and years of hearing that prophecy, God went silent. For 400 years—around 15 generations—there were no significant words from any of God’s prophets.
In Luke 3, that silence was broken by John the Baptist. He told anyone who would listen, “The wait is over. The King we’ve been waiting for is here! In fact, he’s right over there. It’s Joseph’s son Jesus.”
And then Luke does something brilliant. To anyone who may have pushed back… to anyone who may have said, “Wait a minute… the prophets spoke of this coming king, and he’s supposed to be a descendant of Abraham. And not only Abraham, but there are several key people who are supposed to be in the family tree of the Messiah.” To anyone wondering about that, Luke lists a genealogy, traced backwards starting with Jesus and going all the way back to Adam. And those names anyone would be looking for in order to fulfill the words of the prophets are indeed on the list… Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, and Judah.
When you read that list of names in Chapter 3, don’t breeze by it too quickly. Maybe even say each name aloud, just as a reminder that these were real people and not just names on a page. Some of the names may sound familiar, but most of them were just everyday, imperfect people that God used to bring his plans to fruition.
In some ways, we’re like that. God uses us for his purposes. Through our lives, our choices, our words, God uses us. We are his plan for showing those around us who he is.
That’s it for now. Before next time, read Chapters 4 and 5.
Prayer: “Heavenly Father, give me the wisdom to walk in your ways, even in the midst of seasons I don’t understand. Amen.”