Blessed and Burdened

Have you ever looked at your life and wondered how one area could feel completely chaotic while another seems to be falling perfectly into place?

In this vulnerable episode of Unrelated Sisters: Truth & Grace Conversation, Shannon shares her heart about a difficult season of leadership, feeling overwhelmed at work, carrying the weight of a tired and frustrated team, and questioning whether she's doing enough.

At the very same time, God seems to be moving powerfully through the upcoming women's conference. Doors are opening. Plans are coming together. Peace is showing up where stress should be.

So why does God allow us to experience burden and blessing at the same time?

Through biblical truth, personal testimony, and the stories of Moses, Mary, Elijah, Joseph, and the Prodigal Son, we'll explore how God often works in multiple chapters of our lives at once. One chapter may feel heavy while another feels hopeful, but His presence remains in both.

If you've ever felt torn between pressure and purpose, frustration and faith, chaos and calling, this episode is for you.

Because sometimes the greatest evidence of God's direction isn't the absence of problems—it's the presence of His peace.

 PRAYER 

Jesus,

Thank You for meeting us in both the chaos and the calling.

Thank You that we don't have to have all the answers.

Thank You that we don't have to carry everything.

Lord, I pray for every woman listening who feels overwhelmed.

The leaders.

The mothers.

The wives.

The caregivers.

The women carrying burdens nobody else sees.

Remind us today that we were never meant to carry what belongs to You.

Give us wisdom where we need direction.

Give us strength where we feel weak.

Give us peace where we feel pressure.

And Father, when one part of our life feels chaotic while another feels blessed, help us trust that You are working in both places.

Teach us to recognize Your peace.

Teach us to rest in Your presence.

And remind us that if we have peace in our moment, it is of You.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Main Scripture:

📖 John 16:33
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

📖 Numbers 11:14

"I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me."

📖 John 19:25

"Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother."

📖 Philippians 4:7

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Remember this:

You can be blessed and burdened at the same time.

You can be called and challenged at the same time.

You can be walking through chaos and still be standing in God's will.

And if His peace is present...

keep walking.

Because God is writing a beautiful story in every chapter. ❤️

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your mercy, your blessings, and your grace. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this word and today's topic and what we're going to talk about today. Lord Jesus, help it to heal not only myself, but the people listening. Give them the strength to hear the words through your words, Lord Jesus, and to see the words through your your eyes, Lord Jesus. Give them the strength to obey you, Lord Jesus, and to hear their calling, even though life seems chaotic sometimes. We all feel this pressure, Lord Jesus, and we praise you and we thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hi, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation. And today it's just me, Shannon. And um I hope this reaches somebody that needs to hear it. I pray over it daily, hoping that the words that we are discussing, the topics, the just the everyday life that it reaches the people supposed to hear it, Lord Jesus. Uh I want to read a scripture and then we'll kind of get into it. It says John 16, 33, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. Let's just think about that a minute. Right? Jesus says, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. You know, if I want to be honest today, I really didn't know what episode I was gonna do today. I I I haven't I've had a lot going on um in my job. I've had a I've been stressed and worried about things going on at work, and um my home life is great. Um but I wasn't really completely sold on this episode until this morning. And you know, of course I'm clicking through, you know, TikTok this morning, and and every I feel like every spiritual guidance or every spiritual TikTok was pushing me towards this. So this is where we are, you know. Uh my seasons here recently have just been, if you ask me, they've been wacky, right? Like I'm in a funk one minute, and then I'm on an obedience high the next, and then everything seems to be okay, and then I'm stressed out about my work life, you know. At the same time, the women's conference, everything is just falling into place, the place has fallen into place, the dates falling into place, everyone's able to come, everyone's able to be a part of it. Um, it's just all falling into place um from one thing to the next. And you know, I just don't know how to explain it. Like, you know, work has been very heavy lately. It's not that it's busy, it's just been heavy. Um, you know, I'm I'm the manager over 250 plus associates over a store in a small community, and the community relies on our store, and and as far as the store itself, everything's great, right? Sales are great. Um, we're hitting all the metrics, but it's just been tough. It's been really, really tough on the associates. Uh, I've been out of the building a lot. Um, freight flow has just been insane. Um, you know, I've had to leave, I've had to leave my management team in charge a lot. Um, I've been waking up stressed out or worried about, and you know, what I worry most about is my associates. And are they, you know, they're cutting hours, and are they are they gonna be able to support their families? Are they gonna be able to take care of their business? Are they gonna be able to live on what they're making? And there's nothing I can do, right? Um, at the end of the day, there's not really a whole lot I can do personally except for try to make it the best that we can and be good stewards of what I do have, and just trying to figure these things out. I felt like a bad leader lately. I have felt like you know, and leaders aren't supposed to admit that, but I really have. I felt like a failure lately. Um, you know, my team is tired and they're frustrated, they're caring a lot, and some days, honestly, I don't know what's the right answer. I don't know what to say to them. I don't know how to fix it. You know, I don't know how to fix it, and I don't know how to make everyone happy or how to solve every problem. But then at the same time, my spiritual growth or my my calling, my purpose, my I don't know what it is, you know, it's falling right into place. The women's conference is coming right into place, you know, everything's coming together. God's opening the doors. Um, you know, and I've been I've I found myself this morning asking God, how can both of these things be true at the same time? How can one area of my life feel so chaotic while the others feel so blessed? How can one area feel heavy while the other feels full of purpose and full of what I'm supposed to be doing? And as I sat with those questions, God reminded me of something. Just because one chapter is is difficult doesn't mean he's absent from the story. You know, I uh every year after we after we our bonus is announced, I walk the store and I pray over the store and I pray over the associates. Um and I will and I thank God. I thank God for the teamwork that we have and for the associates that we have, and I thank him for the community that we have, and I thank him for allowing us to continue to grow and to allow us to be good stewards, you know. Right now I'm feeling like okay, where are you? The lie that everything should be working out perfect, right? I think one of the greatest lies Christians believe is this if God is with me, everything should be working, right? If God is with me, then who can be against me? And have you ever believed that? Because I know that I have, right? We think if I'm praying enough, everything should work. If I'm obeying God enough, everything should work. If I'm serving God, everything should work. If God called me to it, everything should work, but that's not what scripture teaches us. Like at Joseph, God was with Joseph in the pit. God was with Joseph in slavery, God was with Joseph in prison, and God was with Joseph in the palace. The presence of trouble was never evidence of God's absence, the presence of God was evidence of God's presence. Somebody needs to hear that today. So let's repeat that. The presence of trouble was never evidence of God's absence. The presence of God was evidence of God's presence. The presence of trouble is not evidence that God has left us. Because Jesus Himself said in John 16, 33, in this world you will have trouble. Notice he didn't say you might have trouble or there could be trouble. He said you will. So let's get real for a minute. Let's talk about some real life. And I know there are women listening who are leaders, who are leaders at work. They lead a family, they lead ministry. Maybe you're leading while you're barely holding yourself together because that's definitely how I feel right now. And lately I've been carrying that weight. I've looked at my team and thought, they're so tired and frustrated, and they're giving me all they've got, but it's not enough. And sometimes I feel responsible for fixing things I don't have the power to fix. Maybe you've been there too. You care deeply, you want things to be better, you want your people to win, you want everybody to feel supported, and yet sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you still feel like you're falling short, you know, and that's that's definitely how it's been at work lately. You know, and a lot of the things that's been happening or going on is beyond our control. The amount of freight coming in, the hours being cut, just the everyday not being normal. And it's definitely stuff that we're not used to in my building, you know, and I feel like I'm failing them as their leader, as their you know, as the one that's supposed to be making those big decisions, you know, and that's where we found Moses in Numbers 11:14. I can't carry all these people by myself, the burden is too heavy for me. Did you catch that? Did you Moses? The man who parted the Red Sea, the man who led the Israel, the man who heard directly from God, even Moses said, This is too heavy. What if being overwhelmed doesn't make you a bad leader? What if you make what if it makes you human? Because somewhere along the way, we've convinced ourselves that strong leaders don't struggle, but strong leaders absolutely struggle, they just keep bringing their struggles to God. One thing God has been teaching me lately is this I am responsible to people, I am not responsible for people. That's a huge difference. I can love them, encourage them, support them, pray for them. I can even lead them, but I can't carry what only God can carry. And maybe that's the lesson some of us needed today. You've been carrying things that belong to God and doesn't belong to you. So a few days ago, I heard a message that said, sometimes what feels like lack of motivation is actually spiritual warfare. And I thought about that because not every bad day is spiritual warfare, right? Like a lot lately. I've just been really tired. Um I've been having some, you know, some digestive issues and some other medical issues that have just exhausted me physically and mentally. And but not every day is a spiritual warfare. Sometimes you're just exhausted. Sometimes you're just burnt out, sometimes you're just grieving, sometimes you're physically tired. Even Elijah became exhausted after one of the greatest victories of his life. He sat under a tree and wanted to quit. Do you know what God did when he wanted to quit? He just let him sleep, he fed him, then he spoke to him. Sometimes the answer is prayer. Sometimes the answer is rest. Sometimes it's both. The key is discernment because the enemy loves discouragement. The enemy loves delay, the enemy loves making you question your calling, your leadership, your purpose, your effectiveness, not because you're failing, because you're dangerous. And it seems kind of ironic that with the conference coming and everything falling into place and it actually heading in the direction that I have I've pictured it, I've seen it. That the other part of my life is feeling very chaotic and feeling very, very short fused. I feel very short fused with it. There's just been a lot going on at work. Um and it feels very heavy, and maybe I care a little too much, but I just want everyone to be taken care of. But let's talk about what's going on. Let's not talk about the chaos anymore. Because while work is feeling heavy, the conference feels completely different. Not easy, but peaceful. And I think there's a difference. The conference has stretched me, challenged me. It scares me a little bit, but underneath all of it, there's peace. I am so excited. I am so I feel so renewed and so just full of energy when it comes to this. The more I think about it, the more I realize why. Because this conference was birthed in a prayer. Every step I've heard, I've asked, God, is this what you want? God, open the doors you want opened. Close the doors you won't close. The conference doesn't belong to me. It belongs to him. Every step of the way, it's been him. And because it belongs to him, I don't have to carry it. I just have to steward it. I wonder how much lighter life becomes when we stop carrying things and start stewarding them. Because stewardship says, God, this is yours. Carrying says, God, this is mine. And maybe one reason the conference feels peaceful is because I've surrendered it completely to him. Maybe what's going on in work is just supposed to be a distraction from the peace and the comforts that I feel with the conference and what's coming up and the belief that I have that it's going to grow from year to year. You know, you know who understood this? You know who understood the heaviness and the glory all at the same time? Let's talk about Mary. The mother of Jesus. Mary lived in two realities at once. She carried the greatest blessing imaginable and experienced some of the deepest pain imaginable. She watched miracles, she watched healing, she watched lives change, and then she stood at the cross. John 19, 25. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother. Can you imagine? Think about that for a moment. She stood near the cross while he hangs there. Imagine God's promise unfold while simultaneously watching your heartbreak. Mary teaches us something powerful. Blessings and burdens can exist together. Joy and grief can exist together. Peace and pressure can exist together. Faith isn't pretending one doesn't exist, faith is trusting God is in both. In your peace and in your chaos. I think God has been teaching me something through all this. The conference isn't peaceful because everything is perfect. Work isn't stressful because God is absence. The difference is in peace, and I've learned something over the years. Not every open door is from God, not every opportunity is from God. Not every good idea is God's idea. But when God is in something, there is peace. Not necessarily comfort, not necessarily ease, but peace. Philippians 4, 7, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That peace doesn't always make sense, and sometimes the circumstances scream panic. But peace whispers trust. And maybe that's the lesson I should take from today. If you have peace in your moment, it is of God. One area is flourishing, another is struggling. One prayer is being answered while others feel silent. One relationship is thriving, another is breaking your heart. That's not evidence that God has forgotten you. It's evidence that you're living in the middle of a story that's still being written. God can be working in multiple chapters at once. He can be strengthening you at work while blessing your ministry. Don't judge the entire season by one conflict chapter. Because God is present in the blessing and He is present in the burden in the burden. Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for meeting us both in the chaos and the calling. Thank you that we don't have to have all the answers. Thank you that we don't have to carry everything. Lord, I pray for every woman and man listening who feels overwhelmed. The leaders, the mothers, the wives, the caregivers, the women carrying burdens no one else sees, the men stressed about taking care of their families, the men who are wondering where the next paycheck is going to come from or where the next bill money is going to come from and trying to steward and lead a family. Remind us today that we were never meant to carry what belongs to you. Give us wisdom where we need direction. Give us strength where we feel weak. Give us peace where we feel pressure. And Father, when one part of our life feels chaotic while another feels blessed, help us trust that you are working in both places. Teach us to recognize your peace. Teach us to rest in your presence and remind us that if we have peace in our moment, it is of you. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Remember this, sisters. You can be blessed and burdened at the same time. You can be called and challenged at the same time. You can be walking through chaos and still be standing in God's will. And if his peace is present, keep walking. Because God is writing a beautiful story in every chapter. If you enjoyed this episode, please share. Follow us on Facebook and TikTok at Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation. Just remember you are not alone and you are loved.