overload principle....

so imagine with me.. a camel.. they carry LARGE loads of stuff...
they carry these loads over deserts...hot and desperate...deserts...
they carry them, and often don't get anything to drink for long periods of time...
they are.. simply AMAZING creatures...

My doctor once explained something to me.. he called it
"The overload principle"...
it goes something like this...
A human can carry many things..
illnesses, sensitivities, allergies.. stress...
carry and carry and carry, on and on and on...
Till one day, they just have ONE thing too many
(the preverbial straw... that breaks the camels back...)
and they collapse...
sometimes the item seems so ridiculous.. so minor..  but really.. it WAS NOT the item.. the feather, the light blanket.. it WAS the final straw.. that is all..

some carry heavy loads.. of many  many things..
some carry one or two HEAVY things.. not at all numerous..
But the best things WE can do, is let go or get rid of these things..
Why.???
because you just don't know what that straw is.. and the less you have on you..
the better you'll be able to handle the next thing..

it's the overload principle.. you don't want to become OVER loaded..
you hear people say perhaps .. not to hold ON to anger...
this is why.. it ends up as baggage on you.. for YOU to carry.. not the person you are angry with..
they say not to bring work home...
this is why.. the sooner you can drop the load.. the better you can handle OTHER things.. things perhaps.. that you can NOT avoid..
like.. the flu.. or cancer.. or lyme disease.. or death in your family.. or job loss.. or.. fill IN the blank friends..

This is also the case with our spiritual life..
We can get to the living waters faster if we LAY our burdens down..
if we Carry only what we MUST carry.. and do our best to LEAVE it at the foot of the cross..
Sometimes, life can be overwhelming.. busy, frustrating..
but the Lord gives you some to carry..
and you sometimes pick up MORE than that..
praying for discernment to decipher the difference is KEY
filling UP on the Word of God is important for those times when you are IN a dry and weary land, and no water can be found..
but rest assured.. HE will lead you once again beside the still waters..
HE will restore you..
lift you up on wings of eagles..
times of refreshment are ahead for His children..

Ask, seek, knock..
His sheep HEAR His voice, and they FOLLOW Him..

drop the stuff that isn't HIS stuff..
let it go..
maybe that means the toilet gets clean TOMORROW...
maybe it means you will do MORE today than you ever knew you could do..
MAYBE.. letting HIM lead
seeking HIM
means that others just WILL NOT understand..
don't fret..
You are not following them..
you follow HIM!
and know..
you are NOT alone
Jesus will never leave you...
you are BLESSED because of HIM and HIS love for you

walking, stumbling, and growing in Grace

can't BREATH

I have asthma... and thanks to Lyme & company, and Hashimoto's I don't have the BEST immune system....
So very often I have trouble doing something we all just DO.. naturally...
I have trouble BREATHING.
from asthma attacks, to sudden allergy asthma attacks, bronchitis, pneumonia, to pleurisy... I have experienced them all.. oxygen masks, neutralizer treatments.. all parts of my life at one point or another...
The THING about not being able to BREATH is..
you learn to take shallow breaths..
to not move suddenly,
to walk slowly, so as to not NEED more oxygen than you can actually obtain..
you learn to talk less... a LOT less..
it's frightening to feel the air in/out HURT, to NOT be able to breath freely
to gasp, and feel dizzy and confused and desperate..
but..
I have done it so often.. I at least KNOW the routine.. it isn't a big SHOCK to me... I KNOW what to expect...
I know that there is a right way to breath, and a wrong way to breath...
I have a device to HELP me work on breathing when I feel icky.. it measures how my breath goes.. I forget what it is called...I get a new one EVERY time I have surgery.. at one point I had 4 in my closet, when i got YET another...so I decided NOT to be a hoarder.. and dumped the old ones...
even if I hate it... I can prepare, even if .. just a little...
What is harder..
real life PHYSICAL breathing problems
or when people don't LET you breath...
have you ever been in a place, where it feels like you breath WRONG around a person or persons.. everything you say, do, the direction you look, the expression on your face, your very presence, or lack there of is somehow in judgement?
you are somehow.. condemned...
it's suffocating, frightening, you start watching HOW you walk,
HOW you talk,
you learn to not make sudden movements...
hmmm sound familiar..

LOVE is like OXYGEN
you need it to move about freely...
you need it to flow in your homes, and hearts to clean out the dust, and ick..
let's face it, there is nothing so lovely as opening up the windows and letting FRESH clean air in...
Nothing like hearing the joy and grace of the birds singing their lovely Praise to Jesus JUST outside the window...
nothing like hearing the hustle and bustle of life JUST outside, to remind you that LIFE will go on..
no matter how awful the day to be reminded, "this IS the day the Lord hath made... let us REJOICE and be glad in it" !
when you are not breathing, and you fall to the floor... it's wonderful to see the EMT's come with OXYGEN to help you breath again, to offer it full blast, direct to where it is needed... it is LIFE, without it we would DIE!
I have a rescue inhaler... I think of the scripture verses I have memorized as my spiritual rescue inhaler.. when I can't read because of migraine.. I can dwell upon those lovely words, upon the promises of my Savior...
but sometimes.. it's NOT enough..
sometimes I need a nebulizer treatment, or to be rushed to hospital... and get PURE oxygen...
Spiritually, I see my local Church as part of this... But included in each of our personal "churches" is the fellowship we get from family, friends, neighbors who ALSO know Jesus..
sometimes THEY can be the EMT's rushing to our side to OFFER direct access to the OXYGEN... LOVE

Love lets us breath
living freely in Christ...
for there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus...
Love covers a multitude of sin
God IS Love
and is patient, kind, never jealous boastful or rude....
it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things...
LOVE never fails..
it is a FRUIT of the Spirit...
along with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control...

Loving is HARD.. when times are tough,
when we are pressed
persecuted
weary...
but it is possible, IN Christ

who should we love first and most?
the Word says that after Christ, we should have LOVE for the Saints...

If you feel like you JUST can NOT breath
if legalism, standard bearing, and/or condemnation
are pressing in on your OXYGEN supply

PRAY  - get in direct chit chat with GOD of the Universe!  He cares and loves you so very much!
Read the Word - if reading isn't an option, try to get the Bible (complete unabridged 66 books) on CD, and listen to it!
Find a fellowship of believers that will deliver OXYGEN on demand, who are hooked up direct to the source line, Christ JESUS!  Giver of LIFE and origin of LOVE
and don't what ever you do...
don't be an oxygen thief..
I have heard it said so beautifully..
you only spill what you are full of..
when you are being bumped and can not breath.. WHAT is coming out?
love?
grace?
joy?
peace?
patience?
gentleness?
goodness?
kindness?
self control?
we perhaps ALL need to work on this to varying degrees on any given day...
When there are brethren in your life, like this... pray for them, perhaps they are only giving what they have received.. Perhaps.. they are only spilling the ICK on you.. that they are full of...
and extend to them the same grace, same JESUS, same oxygen YOU need...

it's what Jesus said to do
"love one another as I have loved you... and also Love one another"

you ARE loved...
your sister... breathing in Christ
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