Time to Step Off The Wheel
Time to Step Off The Wheel
Categories: RECENT RESEARCH
Sara Newhard, M.A.
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17b-19
Have you ever watched a hamster running on its wheel? The pitiable little creature is running with all its might, though it never makes an inch of progress. Whenever the animal finally steps off its wheel, the only advancement that has taken place is that the hamster is now exhausted.
Although this frenetic running may be helpful in the context of a creature in a cage seeking exercise, I think we humans can be remarkably similar in our quest for value and worth.
We can be driven by perfectionism, seeking verbal affirmation, popularity, status, among other intangibles; the illusion with any of these is that by achieving enough (success, affirmation, friends, status) we can somehow increase our value and worth. This sets us up for an exhausting race on a hamster wheel that depletes us, but gets us nowhere.
What our souls really need – instead of running harder – is to step off the wheel and simply be in the presence of our Creator God and bask in the fact that He loves us and delights in us more than we can fathom and that there is nothing that we can do to possibly make Him love us more. When we are rooted in that truth, there is a whole new energy and power that fills our lives because it comes from a soul that is full of life rather than a soul that is haggard and gaunt because it’s been a slave to the never-ending wheel.
Sara Newhard, M.A., provides therapy to both individuals and their families. This work involves advocating for the wholeness and health of the resident and the family system and providing a safe space to learn and practice new skills to navigate their struggles and find healing. Prior to joining Timberline Knolls, Sara worked as a family therapist in the Chicago area where she specialized in Multi-Systemic Therapy with adolescents and their families. Sara also has experience providing counseling for emerging adults in the university setting. Sara spent several years living and working in Asia before pursuing further education and training in Clinical Psychology. Sara received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Family Psychology from Oklahoma Baptist University. She went on to earn a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Wheaton College.