With everything going on in the world and our daily lives it's easy to be pulled away from our first love. From the minute we wake up, to the time we go to bed, we are racing around trying to keep up with the day and never seem to find the time to spend with the Lord. Before we know it, we are drowning in unbearable stress and burdens, barely able to keep our heads above water. Like the movie "Groundhog Day," we wake up each day to the same battles. It is no wonder we lose our joy and spiritual enthusiasm for life.

Feeling hopeless and void of all joy is a choice we have made because we forgot how to turn it over to Him. We think we know better, but we know we don't. Why do we do this to ourselves? It is such a vicious cycle, and we must wonder why we are willing do this to ourselves when He says:

"Come to me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 KJV

The key to maintaining your spiritual enthusiasm is to let go of your burdens and give them to the Lord, then not take them back. This is usually where I go wrong. I pray, I hand them off to Him, and before I know it somewhere along the way I snatched them out of His hands and go off running in the other direction like a defiant toddler. Then I run back to Him and play this game until I'm so exhausted, I finally give it all up to Him completely. It is then, when I almost forget about the problem, when the Lord not only fixes things beyond my comprehension, do I realize that through Him alone I should trust.

We forget that "with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26 KJV

Recently, I witnessed the power of His might when I put my trust in Him to provide a solution to what seemed like an impossible problem. A few years back, I was working two jobs, attending grad school and was recently married and expecting our first child together. We lived in an area of the country where it was impossible for a family to survive, even on two incomes. The thought of footing a daycare bill of over $1,000 a month almost brought me to tears, but no more so than that of leaving my infant with another person. It was too much for me to bear, but I knew the Lord was good and did truly turn it over to Him. I continued both my jobs throughout my pregnancy, even picking up extra shifts at the restaurant I worked at, to save up for the time I inevitably knew I had to take off.

By mid-March 2020, I was on the verge of a mental and physical breakdown from the workload. For months I had been working overtime at my day job to prepare and manage a week-long event. On Monday, March 9, eight months pregnant, I drove to the event site, praying to the Lord to give me the strength to work the 20-hour days I knew were ahead of me. When I arrived, our executive staff told me the event was canceled due to the coronavirus. I couldn't tell you the relief I felt when I heard this news. It was soon accompanied with quite a bit of fear of the unknown, but that is a whole other story. My company went remote and soon I welcomed my beautiful daughter into the crazy world. Soon after, we drove straight to Montana to find a new home for our family. Not only did the Lord take care of my original problem of daycare, He gave me above and way beyond my wildest dreams. A new home in the mountains (which I longed for so desperately), a restaurant I had been imagining in my head for nearly a decade, but never thought would ever happen and my first piece of land. Beautiful Montana land. It brings me to tears what He did for me and my family. Now my toddler is with me all the time, often running around my restaurant, making a mess and greeting our customers. It is still amazing to see what He did for me when I took a stress-full situation and trusted Him to make a way.

Our Father in heaven is just that, our father. Like a toddler runs to their parents when they get hurt or upset, and they comfort, counsel and fix the problem, this is exactly what our Heavenly Father does for us. You need to surrender your fears, hopes and hearts desires to Him and remember that with Him "all things are possible." So, if you're feeling overwhelmed and burdened today, remember to trust Him alone for your needs, let go and fill your hearts with the joy He longs for us to have and go about your merry way.

Heather Piper owns The Foxhole Eatery in Hot Springs. She has a degree in Psychology and Social Behavior, is a certified Behavior Change Specialist from the National Academy of Sports Medicine and is active at her local Bible church and community spreading the good news of the gospel. Contact her with questions or feedback at [email protected].