Episode 21 - Are You Carrying To Much?

Are you carrying more than God ever intended you to carry?

Many of us quietly shoulder the weight of work, family, ministry, and the expectations of others until we find ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausted. But what if your exhaustion isn't because you're weak—what if it's because you've been carrying responsibilities God never asked you to carry? 

In this episode, Val Mitchell explores the life of Moses and the powerful leadership lesson he learned from his father-in-law, Jethro. Even though Moses was called by God, he wasn't called to do everything alone. Through biblical wisdom and practical application, you'll discover how to recognize what's truly yours to carry, what to delegate, and how to trust God with the rest.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  What the "Superwoman mindset" really is 
•  Why carrying too much leads to exhaustion 
•  The leadership lesson Moses learned from Jethro 
•  How to identify the responsibilities God has actually assigned to you 
•  A simple exercise to help you release unnecessary burdens 

Key Scripture:
Exodus 18:13–27

Remember, God never called you to carry everything—He called you to walk with Him.

Inspired by my upcoming book, I Quit! How to Break Free from Exhaustion and Learn to Trust God, releasing July 11.

Welcome to Valetha's Greatest Moments with God, a podcast for women who desire to hear God's voice, find healing, and grow closer to Him.

Each week, Val Mitchell shares personal stories, biblical insights, and powerful revelations from her own walk with God. Through real-life experiences and practical faith lessons, you'll discover how God speaks in everyday moments, guides us through difficult seasons, and invites us into a deeper relationship with Him.

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Until next time,

Hear God's Voice.
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Thank you everyone for watching. I so appreciate it today. Like I said, I promise not to keep you long. If you haven't heard, I wrote a book and I'm using Thursdays to pick a different topic from the book to talk about. And what is the book called? It's called I Quit. And we're learning how to break free from exhaustion. Many women I learned in my journey are just like me, that are mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausted for various reasons. So what I'm hoping to do is come on and talk about what it is. You have to face it head on, right? And then from there, some tips that will hopefully be able to allow you to break three. This week, we're going to focus on how the pressure that comes on us when we're trying to be what I like the term superwoman. When I'm talking about being a superwoman, I'm not talking about your comic book. When I'm talking about a superhero, I am really looking at more of this is someone that is taking on a lot of different activities, and she's still pressing through, but she's leaning on her strength in order to carry her through. So it's not really that this person is taking this on just to take it on. It's because you want to be a good mother. You want to be good on your job. You want to be that employee that your boss can depend on. You want to be a good friend. Or even if it's in the ministry, you want to be able to serve and be that one that someone can depend on. Well, when we become that person, a lot of times we take on additional things that we should not be carrying, on top of already the things that we have on our plate. And to still pressing through, we don't take the time to go to God with it. We feel, okay, I'm responsible because one, I said yes, and I just ignore what else I go through. But I want to make sure that they're happy. I want to make sure that if a problem comes up in their lives, they can depend on me to solve it. You know, no matter how it's looked at from my end. Always looking to make sure everyone else's needs are met. And when you do that, oftentimes you sacrifice your own well-being. So when we look at being a superwoman, that is the things that we try to look at. Superwomen believe I can do this, I can take on what I normally have responsibilities for. I can say yes to all of the assignments because I want to be that person. And I just can't let anyone down with doing that. And then, mind you, I cannot let others know that this is too hard for me. So I can't ask for help because I said I was going to take care of it. And that person is depending on me to do so. So because of that, I gotta carry it. So when I got this topic, and I was really trying to see how is the best way that I can illustrate this point. And God is so great because in this season, for some reason, He's showing me trees, He's speaking to me about trees. And when you think of a tree, a real strong, healthy tree, it usually has a big, thick trunk, and then it has many branches that are coming out of it, and then it goes into smaller branches, and then it produces leaves. Now, if it's a fruit tree, they grow apples, oranges, whatever fruit that comes off of there. Or like what we have here in Michigan, we got a lot of trees that when the season changes, they bloom beautiful flowers. And then as the season progresses, those flowers turn into leaves. So I was looking outside, trying to figure out how to best illustrate that. And I saw a tree. And with the tree, I saw that it was at its fullest, beautiful with the big, thick, healthy green leaves. But then right next to that same tree, I saw one that was big, big trunk, it had big strong tree branches and green leaves. But unfortunately, some of those branches were dead. So when you looked at the tree, you saw the healthy side, which were the green leaves, but you also saw many dead branches coming off of that tree as well. And it caught my attention. And what the Lord was telling me, that some of us start out as a big, big, healthy, strong tree. When you think of a purpose of a tree, its leaves bring shade, it cools you down in hot days. It is a place where birds, squirrels, outdoor creatures can make a home. They can settle into the branches, build nests, and it produces a place for them to find comfort and strength. Well, as I'm looking at this tree, the Lord was speaking. And he said, Many of us start out big and strong, where we're able to not only be a support for ourselves, but we're also having the ability to help others. Like for like the tree, you get cool shade when you're up under its shadow, or like the animals, you can find a place to be comforted and have a home and things of that nature. But sometimes we take on more than what we're supposed to, and as a result, when you take on way too much, some of those branches give way. And the illustration of the tree with the dead branches on it was an example of someone that was strong in the beginning, but because they took on more than they could carry, they became exhausted, and some of them, which used to be strong with their strengths, started getting weak. But yet they still keep oppressing instead of letting things go and stopping and reflect, those strong branches, which were once healthy and vibrant, they died and gave way. When I looked at this a little bit further, I had to think about it. And I had to really talk about God, about why do we carry so much, even when certain parts of us are giving away, like the example of the tree with the dead branches, but yet we still press forward. And then I came across, after just sitting and spending time with God, it was like He never designed us to be superwomen, he never asked for us to continue to press forward, he only asked us to be obedient to whatever that assignment is. But I think where we get a lot of the over-exhaustion from because we take on too much that we realize that we shouldn't be taking on. Doesn't mean the job doesn't have to get done, but we are doing way too much. So with that, as you know, I always try to find reference in the Bible. Who in the Bible had an assignment, had started off like that big, strong, healthy tree. But over time, because they took on way too much, they eventually started giving way. Interesting enough, I was led to Moses. Now that was a surprise to me. So if you don't know the story of Moses, we're gonna start not when he was born, not when he was, you know, living with Pharaoh as part of the Egyptian, not when he was kicked out, but when he was called back to rescue the people. So God appeared to Moses and said, You are the one I'm going to send back and bring my people out of Egypt so they can come to the wilderness and worship me. When you think about it, Moses had a big task on his hands. He was given the responsibility of leading out, and I believe it's around two million people. That's a lot of people that you alone are responsible for. So as you come out and as you are leading these people to the promised land, that's a lot of responsibility that you have for yourself. He was responsible for as they were going through. If you know the story, the people complained a lot. They complained about not having enough food, they complained about not having enough water, they complained about just why are we still out here? So he had to be the one that was the intercessor that went to God, that went back to the people, and then when he was with the people, he had to be the judge, the counselor, the mediator. He was the one that dealt with a lot of the conflicts they had. And then every time God released a new law or a new word for the people to do, he was the one that was responsible, that had to deliver it. Now, the blessing of it is he did have elders that was with him. He did have a right-hand man, as we know, but he was still the main person that had to take on that responsibility. So one day, if you still know the story, as Moses was taking on this responsibility, he got angry a lot, he got frustrated sometimes. We see this when they were going through and they were complaining that they were thirsty. And they came across, oh, I'm going off of memory. Well, they came across an area where it was a rock. And so Moses went to the people. I mean, went to God and said, Your people are thirsty. God said, Take your staff, go tap the rock, and then they'll get water and they can fulfill their thirst. Well, Moses then had it up to here with the people and all their complaints and all their bickering. And he went over after he got the instructions from God and bang, bang the staff on the rock. And mind you, it did produce the water, but it was like, I'm just tired of dealing with all these people. So he had a big, big task. Now, the one thing in the story that we do learn is Jethro came around. And for those of you who do not know Jephro, Jeffro was his wife's father. So it was his father-in-law. He came to come visit them one day, and he sat back and watched Moses just go throughout his day. Because Moses used to set himself up when the people had conflicts, they would come to him and try to solve their day-to-day problems. He saw how he prayed for the people. He saw how he still had to go spend time for Jesus. And he came back and he was watching them. And he said, Moses, what you're doing is not good. You got so much weight on your shoulders that if you don't get some help, you are going to crack. Moses is an example of what I call trying to be a superman, which means he was carrying on the responsibility of everything where it was starting to show in his behavior and his actions. And even when he was just trying to talk compete with people, he was overwhelmed by all the responsibilities that he was carrying. So luckily, he was able to hear from someone else that stopped him and said, Moses, you're doing way too much. And I think that maybe you should do some other activities to get the workload done, and without you having to be the sole person to do it. So there were certain things that Jethro, his father-in-law, advised Moses to do. First and foremost, he said, you need to continue to seek God on every assignment that you have in front of you. Seek God on the big assignments, on the little assignments. Don't leave one of them out. And next step he told him is that instead of allowing the people to constantly come to you, it's time to help them to solve some of their own problems on their own. But one thing that I really thought was a very good point, he said you need to start delegating some of this responsibility. Find some of your elders who are God-fearing, trustworthy leaders, and start releasing some of the responsibility from yourself and start allowing them to take areas and then what they can't handle, then of course they can bring to you. Moses took that advice. And so the people started going to them. And then if they couldn't resolve it, then they came to Moses. That freed up so much off of Moses' plate that it allowed him a little bit more flexibility to do the things that were really, really important. So I come today and ask, is some of your exhaustion coming because you're trying to be the superwoman or the superman, where you're thinking you can handle it and it is all on your shoulders. And you do it because you really want to help. Are you this big tree, but you got dead branches sticking out, but you're still trying to hold on, but you're carrying too much, that some things are just dying on the inside, which is making you exhausted because it's taken away to allow you to really focus on what you need to focus on. It can be yourself, it can be a specific project God is calling you to do, but you can't do it because your hands are in so many other things. What is it? What I'm gonna ask you to do is this pretty much similar to what Jeffro asked of Moses. Take every single assignment, whether it's feed the dog every Tuesday, where he got to eat more than every Tuesday, feed the dog every day, versus I got this big project at work. Whatever it is, write them all down. What are you responsible for? What's on your plate? What is God asking you to do? There are certain things, it could be big, it can be small, that God is saying, tap, tap, tap. I'm looking for you to do some things too. What are those things? Then I want you to look at the list, and I want you to make three columns, one column. There's nobody else that can do this assignment. I have to do it. Prime example, it could be the one that God wants you to do. It could be that assignment that's demanding at work that your boss said, Hey Val, I need you to do this. Second column, what can be delegated? What needs to be done, but doesn't need to be done by you. Put that in that middle column. And then third, what is if I taught them how to do it, take a little extra time and show them how to do it, whatever that is, I won't have to worry about it because they know how to do it and they know how to keep running. And they no longer have to come to me to get it done. And then after you put that list together, column A, column B, column C, I want you to pray over. I want you to say, Lord, this is everything on my plate. This is how I categorize it. Lord, allow me if something needs to shift. Do I have it right? Do I just take it off the list altogether because it's not important in this time of what I'm doing? Take it off the list and we'll set it to the side and I'll get back to it whenever I get back to it. Be willing to sit with God, pray over it, give him time to get back with you, and then you may have to shuffle that list around. And then wherever you end up with that list, focus only on what you're supposed to focus on. Be quick to train somebody on whatever they need to be trained on, be quick to delegate those things that you know you can delegate to, and then shift your focus on what you're supposed to be working on. I believe if you are able to do these activities, you'll feel that load starting to lighten up where you can breathe and relax and clearly focus without all the distractions going on. Amen. Amen. All right, that is what I have today. I hope this blessed you. I really hope it encouraged you. I didn't want to stay long just for a few minutes, but I'm excited because it allows me to be able to express how I understand many of us go through life carrying stuff, and we're just exhausted, and we press to we just can't press no more. And you can get health issues with that, you can have family disruptions with that. So much negative can come out of you maintaining your exhaustion until you get to a point where you say, I quit. I can't just do it anymore. My book releases July 11th. Yay! Till next time.