You Don’t Have to Have It All Together

Fall is here. The kids are back in school. Sports are in full swing. Work is busy. Church activities are filling the calendar. The holidays are somehow already approaching. And if your family is anything like mine, there are days when the calendar looks less like a schedule and more like a game of Tetris.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, we’re also supposed to exercise, eat healthy, keep the house clean, spend quality time with our families, answer every email, remember everyone’s birthday, and apparently get eight hours of sleep.

The truth is, most of us spend a lot of time trying to make it look like we have everything together. We want to be good parents. Good spouses. Good employees. Good friends. Good Christians. And when we fall short, and we will, we can start thinking we just need to try harder.

But Jesus gives us a very different invitation.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Notice Jesus doesn’t say, “Come to me once you get everything figured out.” He says come when you’re tired. Come when you’re overwhelmed. Come when you messed up. Come when the laundry is piled up, your inbox has 47 unread emails, somebody needs a ride somewhere, and you just remembered you were supposed to bring something to church.

Come as you are.

That’s one of the beautiful things about our faith. Our relationship with God isn’t based on how well we’re holding everything together. It’s based on what Christ has already done for us.

Paul learned this when God told him:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

That’s almost the opposite of what the world tells us.  The world says, “Be strong. Handle it. Figure it out.” Jesus says, “My grace is enough.” There is tremendous freedom in that. It means we can admit when we’re tired. We can ask someone for help. We can tell a friend we’re struggling. We can pray a messy prayer instead of searching for the perfect words. And sometimes we can simply stop, put down the phone, and turn off the TV. Maybe even leave a few things unfinished. Spend a few minutes with God. Because maybe the goal isn’t to perfectly balance everything in our lives. Maybe the goal is to remember who is holding us when everything feels a little out of balance.

This fall, when life gets crazy, and it probably will, remember that you don’t have to have it all together.

Jesus already does.

So, take a breath. Say a prayer. Give yourself a little grace.

And if the laundry doesn’t get folded tonight? I’m pretty sure it’ll still be there tomorrow.

Kelsey Wilbern – New Member Coordinator