This week the Five Minute Friday Challenge meets Freaky Friday. When my daughters were growing up, we watched this movie frequently, and to tell you the truth, I still enjoy it...almost 18 years after it was first released. 

If you aren't familiar with this version, here's the synopsis. "Single mother Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her teenage daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) couldn't be more different, and it is driving them both insane. After receiving cryptic fortunes at a Chinese restaurant, the two wake up the next day to discover that they have somehow switched bodies. Unable to switch back, they are forced to masquerade as one another until a solution can be found. In the process, they develop a new sense of respect and understanding for one another." (Click here for the YouTube trailer) (Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes)

There is a sense of urgency on figuring out how to reverse the fortune and set things right because Tess is getting married the next day. They try a few methods, such as running into each other;  hoping the jolt fixes the problem. However, it doesn't work and they go back to the Chinese restaurant looking for help. Here is one of my favorite scenes:

The phrase "I cannot fix it, only you can fix it" has been repeated often in our household over the years; usually in jest, but I also find some truth in it. However, the whole truth is that I cannot fix it, only Jesus can fix it. There have been times that I have tried to control circumstances or fix things myself. Have you ever jumped ahead, wanting to bypass Jesus' timing and His ways? I sure have, but ended up making more of a mess.

Let's look in Scripture for a few answers on how Jesus can fix our mess.

We do not have to stress or worry and try to figure it all out on our own.

"Call to Me, and I will answer you. I will tell you of great things, things beyond what you can imagine, things you could never have known." (Jeremiah 33:3, The Voice)

"I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with My eyes as your guide.
So don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before.
Don’t make Me tug you and pull you along. Just come with Me!” (Psalm 32:8-9, TPT)

Sometimes, I admit, I do drag my feet and I'm sure it seems that Jesus needs to tug and wait for me. I need to learn to "just come".

His promise in Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT) is that there will be rest if we come to Him.

"Then Jesus said, “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.”

That last phrase really stood out to me today, "and the burden I give you is light". The promise is that the burden He asks me to carry is light, because He carries the brunt of the weight of it. I put too much of the burden on myself, stuff that God never intended me to carry. Can you relate? 

It seems like it has taken me a lot of years and several times around the proverbial mountain for me to realize that I just need to rest in Him.

So the next time you are striving and trying to "fix it" remember this:

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV). Because,"I cannot fix it, only He, Jesus, can fix it". 

This post was prompted by Kate Motaung's "Five Minute Friday," which she hosts on the Five Minute Friday website. Kate posts a single word each week and each blogger sets a timer for 5 minutes to write and then posts, with little editing. (Some weeks I have more trouble with that part than others.) Check out the other writers on this topic!