Sisyphus

Why does it seem that as soon as I get a little bit ahead, or just break even, something happens to screw it up and set me back again?

Last night I came home and found some potentially bad news waiting for me. If it's not a mistake of some sort (which I'm hoping for) it is definitely bad news for me. I found myself anxious and upset all night and into this morning. After crying out to God this morning, I told him through my fears that I felt like Sisyphus. He's a character in a greek myth who was punished in hades by having to push a huge rock up a hill, and once it got to the top it slid back down again and he'd have to push it back up again. Over and over and over again. But then God spoke to my heart, just by giving me a quick thought about that. In this world, unfortunately, I'm going to have problems. I'm going to be rolling rocks up hills a lot. Everyone does and it's a fact of life. But unlike Sisyphus, while there are times I'm stuck rolling rocks up hills, I don't have to do it alone. God is always with me, helping me, he's my refuge in times of trouble. Jesus even said, "Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." When oxen or horses or mules were learning to pull a cart or plow, the younger, inexperienced animal would be yoked to an older, experienced animal. The older animal would take more of the weight of the cart or plow and lead the younger one. This is what Jesus does for us, for me. I'm yoked with him, but he's taking the burden from me. When I'm in situations in life where I'm pushing rocks up hills, he's with me, taking the weight of the rock from me to get it to the top. It's still hard, and I still have times of fear and uncertainty. But knowing that Jesus is with me and helping me makes it so much easier to bear.