The other night, I was spending a quiet evening relaxing alone at home, when all of sudden I heard a loud clanking noise downstairs. My first thought was “What in the world did my cats knock over that would make such a racket?!” Then I realized that the kitties were upstairs with me. They had wide eyes and cautiously crept into the hallway to peer through the banister railings to investigate what was making such a clatter.
I rushed downstairs and discovered quite a sight in the laundry room. My washing machine was walking across the room as it wobbled and clunked from side to side! So, I opened the lid and stopped its wild trek.
By now, you probably know what happened. In fact, you’ve probably had it happen to you before. Yup, you guessed it…I had an unbalanced load in the washing machine. I was washing a shower curtain and liner and didn’t put any other clothes in with the load. To make matters worse, the setting of the load size was on extra large, so the tub had filled up with much more water and soap suds than it needed for the small load that I was washing.
To top things off, the water hose had come loose a little bit because the washer had walked too far away from the wall. So, there was water and suds all over the floor!
After I mopped up the mess and pushed the wayward washer back to where it belonged, I thought about the big lesson I had just learned about making sure my laundry loads were properly balanced because of the havoc that can result when they become unbalanced.
Hmmm….Life is sort of like that, too, isn’t it? When we get out of balance, whether it’s with too much work, not enough time with family and friends or not enough time with God, a real commotion can occur! We need to have a proper balance of work, play, rest, and nourishment–both physical and spiritual.
So, let’s take the lesson learned from my walking washing machine and try to keep our lives balanced. And when the load gets too heavy, remember that there are very strong and capable shoulders that we can place our heavy load upon. Jesus said that he wants to be our burden bearer. So, let him! “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
Here are a couple of other encouraging verses:
‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.’ 1 Peter 5:7.
‘Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.’ Psalm 55:22
Love in Christ,
Martha
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