Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

Soaked in God's Word, Sprouting Seeds of Faith

Is It Time to Lay Down Your Burden?

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Clickety-clack, clickety-clack. Walking on the hardwood floors, my shoes sounded like a freight train rolling down the tracks at midnight. Only a long, slow, mournful whistle was missing.  Clickety-clack, woo-woooo woo-woooo.

Glancing down, I saw something lodged between the ridges in my tennis shoe. A rock. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to dig boulders out of these particular shoes.

“I love wearing them, but these shoes sure do pick up a lot of rocks!”

So do you, Ellen.

Hmmm, it’s so true. Listening to His still, small voice, I realized I pick up a rock or even a boulder and try to carry it. Sometimes I’ll take on a load of rocks. I imagine you do the same!

This makes for heavy baggage we can’t carry alone. It’s always with us, clickety-clacking while we walk. You know, kinda like the rock in my shoes.

Do you carry burdens that you shouldn’t? Things like these:

Fear.

Worries.

“What ifs.”

Guilt. 

Discouragement.

Busyness.

Does the weight of the rocks stuck in your shoes slow you down? Do you trudge through each day because your load has become too heavy? That’s because we shouldn’t carry all the weight all alone. And some rocks we shouldn’t pick up at all. Our regular daily burdens are not ours to carry. We are to walk in obedience to God and trust Him to do the heavy lifting in our lives.

Jesus said to consider the lilies — they don’t strive, yet God provides (Matthew 6:25-24). And God does. His supply of grace for the moment is enough. 

 Is there someone you can prayerfully share your heavy load with? Seek them out! Ask them to pray for you.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIV

Have you brought the weight of your cares to Jesus? When you do, He will give you rest. Jesus cares for you!

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 NLT

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 ESV

Now is the time to let go of the stones. Identify the burden weighing you down and surrender it to Jesus. Then, trust that He will sustain you. Dig those rocks out of your shoes and surrender them to Him. You will be surprized at how light your load has become! 

Growing Toward the Son: Lessons from Sunflowers

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It’s official: I have the summer doldrums. The South Louisiana heat has taken its toll on me. The dictionary defines doldrums as a period of stagnation or slump. They have even affected my writing. I’m in a slump. I haven’t wanted to move or DO anything; I want to sit in the comfort of a cool, air-conditioned home.

Until that morning…

It was early. It was a Monday morning. Not being a morning person, I rarely notice anything. Unless it’s hundreds of happy faces smiling brightly at me. They were sunflowers! Planted in a sugarcane field!

Their faces brought me so much joy. How had I missed them on the way to church yesterday? Why were they planted in the sugarcane fields?

There are several reasons cane farmers are planting sunflowers in the off-season:

  • Those beautiful sunflowers shade the soil and help suppress weeds.

  • The sunflowers have their own subsoil community (nematodes [worms, ugh!], bacteria, fungi, etc.) which flourishes in the thin layer of soil around the roots. This is a different subsoil community than the sugar cane roots. And this enriches the soil for cane growth.

  • After harvesting the sunflowers, their stems can be left in the field. The sunflower stems mulch and enrich the soil, further supporting the cane growth.

  • Young sunflower buds follow the sun, but once the flower head opens, it faces east permanently.

  • They are beautiful and make people happy!

     There’s more to sunflowers than the agricultural facts, though. Here are three lessons I learned:

1. Follow the Son. So much is vying for our attention these days. So many people to “follow” on social media. But the only One we need to follow is Jesus. Sparkly things catch our eyes, distract us, and pull us away from Him. Follow Jesus. Keep your eyes on Him. “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2. Pray through the storms. I missed the sunflowers when I passed them earlier because it was cloudy and raining. The young sunflower blooms were facing down. Their heads were “bowed.” When stormy weather comes and circumstances overwhelm us, pray. Bow your head and heart and talk to Jesus. He will calm the storm. “He (Jesus) got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.” Luke 8:24 NIV

3. Grow among the weeds. The field contained some weeds alongside the sunflowers. But the weeds didn’t stop the sunflowers from growing! The beautiful flowers continued to grow. We will face “weeds” in our lives that can choke our growth in the Lord. But the Son brings us nourishment. And God is our Gardener—He will remove any weeds that cause us to struggle in our walk with Him. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” John 15:1 CSB

The sunflowers were beautiful and brought me great joy. But they also taught me some valuable lessons! And they encouraged me to grow sunflowers! Now I have a small square of smiling faces in my own front yard.

-What brings you joy and delight?

-When have you slowed down to notice something lately?

Grace be with you,