Your Encouraging 5 Minute Podcast
A weekly dose of encouragement to start your week off right! Join your favorite WPER hosts every week for uplifting thoughts to keep your eyes focused on Christ and His promises.
Your Encouraging 5 Minute Podcast
What If "Having It All" Isn't the Point?
Do you feel like you're drowning under the pressure to have it all? That relentless pursuit of society's definition of success – the thriving career, picture-perfect family, passionate marriage, all while maintaining a flawless appearance – can leave us feeling like we're failing at everything.
Sometimes what we feel to be our biggest failure – that moment when people discover we’re not perfect – can become the turning point that changes everything.
We were never meant to carry such heavy burdens, especially alone. The world tells us to do it all, Jesus offers a different invitation: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
It goes against everything culture tells us, but: What if having it all was never really the goal? What if true peace comes not from balancing every spinning plate but from laying our burdens at down at Jesus’ feet?
Take five minutes today to just breathe, to let go, to stop proving your worth through titles and busyness.
Remember that the God who created the stars, moon, and everything beautiful sees you! Not for what you're doing, but for who you are – His beloved child.
Share this message with someone who needs this reminder that they're not failing; they're simply human, and that's enough because Jesus is.
Oh, we're so glad you've joined us for the five-minute encouraging podcast over the next five minutes. Just encouraging you, inspiring you to lift your day. By the way, at the end of the five minutes, if you need more encouragement, you can always listen to Virginia's Home for Encouragement, wper. If you're outside the listening area, download the app WPERorg or tell your smart speaker to play WPER radio station. My name's Eric. This is my friend Heather.
Speaker 2:So today, this is for everyone who feels like they're drowning under the pressure of having it all, and you know what I'm talking about. It's society's version of success. You know a thriving career, a picture-perfect family, a passionate marriage, and somehow you need to look flawless doing it all.
Speaker 1:Well, if you've ever looked in the mirror and thought I'm failing at everything, we're glad you're here for a little bit of encouragement.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'm going to tell you about a woman I know that you might relate with. Her name is Rachel, and she was one of those women from the outside had it all climbing the corporate ladder and a VP in corner office by the time she was 35. She had a handsome and successful husband who adored her, two beautiful kids, a gorgeous house, an awesome car. You know like the dream of success. But what no one saw were all the cracks beneath the surface that she hid so well. You know Rachel was running from meeting to meeting and answering emails with one hand and microwaving chicken nuggets at the other. You know all those date nights well. They turned into like catch up sessions with a man who suddenly felt more like a roommate, and then time with God, yeah, practically non-existent. So Rachel and I can say I feel this too she would lay awake at night thinking about all the ways she had failed, even though she was trying so hard.
Speaker 2:So one night, after missing another one of her daughter's soccer games, rachel just broke. I mean, she sat there on the kitchen floor, tears falling down her face. She was bawling, barely even able to speak the words. God, I cannot do this anymore. And so in that moment she felt like that was the moment that everybody was going to find out that she was a failure. But in reality, that was the moment that everything shifted Because right there on the kitchen floor, with the crumbs of last week's dinner and this morning's breakfast or to-do list just crumpled up on the floor, her world seemed like it was falling apart. You know, and in all this exhaustion and emptiness, but she felt a gentle nudge from the Lord. Now, it was not condemnation and it was not shame, it was a whisper that said Rachel, my sweet girl, you were never meant to carry all of this.
Speaker 1:None of us are. You know, the world tells us we should do it all. Oh yeah, absolutely. That's the message you get. But Jesus says come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. So what if having it all was never really the goal? What if peace, true soul, deep peace, doesn't come from balancing every spinning plate and striving to be so successful at every little thing? What if the peace comes from laying all of our burdens, all of our stresses, all of our problems at his feet? You know, the truth is we can chase the world's version of success, but without Jesus it's always going to leave us exhausted and empty, because only Jesus can fill the places success was never meant to touch.
Speaker 2:Eric. That's good, that was good. So maybe today you just need permission to breathe, to let go, to stop trying to prove your worth through titles you hold or how busy you are, or being the perfect parent to the world while you're trying to do it all. So just stop, stop striving and just be. And the God who created the stars and the moon and puppies. He created you and he sees you right now, not for all the stuff you're doing and trying to make it look like you're handling it, but for who you are his beloved and treasured child.
Speaker 1:Psalm 4610 says be still and know that I am God and maybe, well, let that be your invitation today to just be still. Stop striving, Stop chasing. Simply let God be God in your life. Let him carry the weight you were never meant to carry.
Speaker 2:So, before we wrap up, can I just pray over you, oh Jesus, for every single person listening to this who is exhausted from trying to do it all? Remind them today that they are loved, not for what they've accomplished, but because they are your child. Show them that your grace is enough and that real peace comes when we stop striving and we start resting in you. Thank you, father. In your name we pray amen. You're not failing friend. You are human and you're enough because Jesus is.
Speaker 1:Thank you for spending a few moments with us today. If this spoke to your heart, would you share it with a friend who might need that reminder? Thank you for listening to your encouraging five-minute podcast again. If you need further encouragement, go back and listen again, or listen to Virginia's Home for Encouragement WPER. You can download the app.
Speaker 2:Or you can listen at WPERorg or even ask your smart speaker to play WPER Radio.
