By Jenny Fulton

This was a tough one to write. I originally wrote it in a journal, not sure if I would share it as a blog or if I was writing it for myself to process a rough situation. I’m not going to share any details except that it involves a family friend that we care very deeply about. These are my questions, my thoughts, my soul-wrestlings, my heart.

Every week on five minute friday, a topic is posted. The idea is to turn that internal editor off and write for five minutes straight.  Then you post your blog and link up with others who have done the same. 

Topic: Responsible

Five Minutes Starts Now…

What are we really responsible for and what are we taking responsibility for that really isn’t ours to shoulder?

How much do I feel responsible for someone else’s happiness and well-being when that really shouldn’t be my burden to bear?

It’s hard when you care about someone not to feel their pain and want to alleviate it. It’s normal to want what’s best for them and to desire to come alongside and help them get to that place.

The danger, I think, comes when, in our caring and desire to help, we actually remove all responsibility from their shoulders and attempt to carry it all on our own…

Stop!  End of Five Minutes

Topic Continued…

It’s that tough and heartbreaking boundary to navigate between “do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4) and “Bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and yet, “For each one will bear his own load” (Galatians 6:5) and “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord” (Hebrews 12:4).

I think that sometimes, to try to bear someone else’s responsibility (burden) is to step in the way of God’s discipline, which is to actually step in the way of what God’s best for them is.

It’s hard. It hurts. A lot.

But I’m learning, through heartache and tears, that sometimes, the best way to love someone is to lay the responsibility you feel for them down at God’s feet, step away, and trust God to deal with them in His time, in His way – the way that is best.

I am responsible for what and who God entrusts to my care. And when He directs, I need to be ready to lay it all down.

More of My Five-Minute Friday Posts

• Deals vs. Relationship
• The Benefits of Having Children
• The Perfect Timing of a Missed Opportunity
• Work or Baby
• Small-Town Culture
• The Magic of Touch

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*Image by Rosy / Bad Homburg / Germany from Pixabay