How Full is Your "Balloon?"

Have you ever felt like you've reached your brim with worries, fears, pressures, pains, regrets, and rejection? There have been many times I felt the levels rising and I was about to overflow with all the stuff going on in my life. But then there are other times that it just gets too crazy and I don't have time to just let it all out and give it to God. I hold in everything and try to handle it by myself, while in the long run it's just making things worse.

When we hold things in and bottle them up, it's just like blowing up a balloon till it's reached its max. Sometimes we keep blowing our balloons up and shoving more stuff in that we think we can handle or we don't want to give over to God. Then one thing comes and pricks us and blows us up.

Then there are other times that we feel like we are ready to explode but then we realize just how much we've been relying on ourselves. We've filled up our balloons with way too much. Have you ever blown up a balloon and it seemed like it was too full that you couldn't tie it off? then you lost grip and it came lose, it flew all over the room, zipping back and forth with no direction. Sometimes I feel like my life is like that. I try to hold it all in and then it just falls beneath me. I end up flying in all different directions because I relied on my own strength and abilities.

One thing is true of both examples of the balloon, in each situation the balloon in the end is relieved of the pressure and pain from beforehand. The balloon may be in pieces and feel broken, but God can use the broken pieces to draw us closer to Him. There's something about when a balloon deflates that just sounds like everything is being released out of it- like it's all being removed. I don't know if it's just me or not, but it's so nice to just feel like everything is exposed to God and everything is out on the table, not holding anything back.

So my question to you is - how full is your "balloon?" If you feel like you're holding something in, or maybe way too much in, go to God and ask Him to take control over your circumstances. Ask for His guidance. Go to Him with your worries. You are not in this alone.

The inspiration for this post was in a verse I found in my devotions (and also some circumstances in my life right now) but the verse is....

 2 Peter 5: 6- 

"Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

This verse really touched me because it reminded me that God cares for us. Each of us personally. It may seem like nobody else gets what you're going through or understands your life, but God cares. He will listen. He's there for us to go to with our needs and pains. When we feel like we can't handle one more thing, we can just forward all our anxieties to Him because He is in control. And, even though it may hurt right now, He will get us through.