Jesus Wont SHOULD On Us

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey and examine one word: seek.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering, we considered one word: SEEK. This week we will consider the language of friendship with Jesus: PRAYER. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”

PROMISE: Matthew 11:28-30

^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus is a friend who walks with us on our journey through trials, temptations, troubles, weakness, and share our sorrows. He does not “Should” on us. Instead, He lovingly teaches us through His unforced rhythms of grace. 

PSALM: What a Friend We Have In Jesus originally was written as a poem by Joseph M. Scriven in 1855.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer

We see the acronym B.F.F. as captions under pictures with our friends. Scrivens informs us of our true best friend forever. He describes Jesus as our faithful best friend (John 15:15) forever.  A friendship with Jesus is a friendship with eternal benefits that were demonstrated and sealed on the cross (John 15:13). Jesus does not condemn (Romans 8:1) us for what we should do but offers us forgiveness of our sins. His faithful friendship promises us that we shouldn’t dwell in our discouragements. Instead, when we experience trials, temptations, and troubles (and we will),  we can talk to Him and He will share our sorrows. 

PARABLE:  The word “should” is often used to entangle us in a web of shame. It confines us to expectations of who we should be, how we should be, and what we should be. When we experience trials, temptations, troubles, and the weaknesses of our hurts, habits, and hangups our inner critic and our external critics will curse us with “SHOULDS.” I am so glad that Jesus does not “Should on Us.” He is a gracious friend who joins us in our most discouraging times and loves us like no other friend can love us.

PONDER and WANDER:  

If you choose, Ponder the questions: Who has “shoulded” on me? Am I trapped in a shame web of “shoulds?”

If you identified who has shoulded on you and that you have been trapped in a shame web of who you should be, how you should be, and what you should be by yourself or by others, you may choose to complete the below soul training exercise and  take it to The Lord in P.R.A.Y.E.R.

Soul care training exercise: Follow the P.R.A.Y.E.R. steps below to untangle yourself from the web of should and shame. 

Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal to you if you are entangled in a shame web.
Repent for the hold the shoulds have made in your life
Ask God to show you who He says you are
Yield to His identity
Expect Him to walk with you on your journey
Rejoice that Jesus is your friend who will help you through your trials, temptations, and troubles and will share your sorrow

PRAYER:  Jesus, thank you that you are my faithful best friend forever. What a privilege it is that I can carry everything to you in prayer. Your name is a strong tower where I can run and be safe (Proverbs 18:10) from shame when others “should” on me. Shield me from the shame triggers of  appearance and body image, sexuality, family, marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, parenting, careers and professional identity, vocations and religious identities, mental and physical health, aging, religion, speaking out, and surviving trauma that attempt to draw me away from our friendship. Give me the wisdom to be able to recognize that shame needs to be acknowledged and understood before it can be overcome. Give me the desire to take it to you in P.R.A.Y.E.R. In the healing name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to thank God for the friend you have in Jesus. Let the work of your wandering fill you with the love of Christ.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

The post Jesus Wont ” Should on Us”   appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image attributions:

You can come to me in prayer: Pixaby image with added notations
BFF – Belovedwomen.org image with added notations
Shame Web – Brene Brown
P.R.A.Y.E.R. – Pixaby image with added notations