Think about the way you wake up. Besides feeling sleepy maybe, what are your other thoughts? Are you dreading the day? Are you anxious about the day? Or do you feel grateful for the gift, ready to step into all God has for you today?



Why do you feel the way you do? What can you do with it?



A little scientific reasoning behind your feelings reveals it’s a chemical reaction. Melatonin is a hormone produced by your brain in response to darkness, making you naturally sleepy. As you near the end of your night’s sleep, your body starts producing the hormone Cortisol instead. You likely know about Cortisol, it is the stress hormone. Think of it as your body’s built in alarm-system. It’s there to wake you up and make you move.



Cortisol is naturally at it’s highest in the morning when you wake up. Yip, stress is naturally highest in the morning. This can make you a moody beast! It can make for a bad start. And you could claim it’s not your fault. Oh but girl, it’s your choice.



That boost of Cortisol in the morning is God’s great design to get your body going for the day. However, when you don’t respond to this rush of hormones correctly, instead you can feel immediately overwhelmed. Yes, that’s sometimes why you wake up overwhelmed. Wake up anxious. Wake up with dread. That’s just Cortisol being misused.



Misused Cortisol, like anything and everything else in life, becomes a burden.



Honey, are you burdened? Are you weighed down? Are you dragging a load that’s too much for you to carry? Are you frustrated with your slow progress and overwhelmed by the never-ending struggle?



Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28-30 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”



The MSG translation says “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace” with Jesus.



Ahhhhhhh … isn’t that the opposite of what you feel? You feel a forced rhythm. You feel a daily grind of “have to”. I have to get up. I have to go to work. I have to do this and I have to do that. It’s all forced, and it’s become a burden.



But my sister, recognize it’s simply because you’re using a good thing in the wrong way.



Just like waking up, Cortisol is God’s gift to help you get up and going, but when used wrong, it is the source of anxiety and overwhelm from the moment your eyes open. Get out of this forced rhythm, and girl get into the flow Jesus is offering you. He is offering to carry your heavy burdens. He is offering you rest and peace. He is offering you a life lived freely and lightly.



You can’t live freely and lightly when you’re burdened. A burden is defined as a heavy load. What does a heavy load do to you? It makes it hard to move forward. It exhausts you. It makes you want to give up.



Your burden is a target for the enemy. He dwells in your exhaustion, because when you become weary, his whispers become loud. When you’re struggling to take the next step under the weight of it all, his lousy petitions of settling short of how far you could go, are a welcomed offer. And if you’re waking up burdened, my guess is he’s right in your ear when the alarm rings. Are you laying there and listening to him? Oh the burden grows heavier, doesn’t it?



But, what can Jesus do with your burden? He can make it lighter.