We were never designed to carry heavy burdens. But how do we release them?
Why are we so often ‘weary and heavy-laden’? For many it is because of the burdens we are carrying. We’ve talked in previous installments about the burden of trying to find or earn salvation outside of Jesus. We’ve talked about the burden of adding to the gospel with man’s rules and requirements. That may or may not have ever been true of you. But now, let’s talk about burdens that at one time or another, weigh all of us down and cause us to become weary, exhausted, burned out, anxious, tightly-wound…
Matt 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
This ‘coming to Jesus’ is both an initial act (for salvation as we talked about previously), and also a lifestyle. There will never be a time that we do not need to come to Him. There will never be a burden that He does not want us to bring to Him….whether it be large or small.
1 Pet 5:7 tells us to: “cast all your cares (anxieties) on Him, because He cares for you.”
Let’s take a quick look at the context beginning with v5: “ God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
So, casting our anxieties/cares on Him is part of humbling ourselves. Interesting. Makes sense, though, because we must come to the point of realizing that we cannot handle this burden (whatever it may be) ourselves anymore, and we need the help, the rescue, of God. That is a good thing! True humility is not a diminishing of my worth, is the recognition that I am not God!
Let’s look further in this passage. What is the warning at the end… that the devil prowls around seeking someone to devour. While verse 8 can certainly stand on its own, it also can relate to v5-7 in that if we choose NOT to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and if we choose NOT to cast all our anxieties/cares on Him, we very much leave ourselves open to the enemy. Let’s not do that!
Some burdens are relatively light and we can carry them in our arms. But even then, by that very act we are preventing ourselves from attending to other matters and also from receiving anything good because our arms/hands are full—of that burden. We cannot go certain places. We cannot engage in certain activities. It is always before us. Blocking our actions. Obstructing our view. Determining our course. Our ‘hands are full’…. Of concerns and anxieties. Many times other people are not even aware that we are carrying these burdens--- it just looks like we ‘have a lot going on’. But we know the truth of the matter if we care to admit it. An anxiety is a ‘distracting care’. That may or may not be evident to others. Some of us are really good at hiding these types of burdens, but they still hinder us greatly.
Ps 55:22 (AMP) “Cast your burden on the Lord [release it] and He will sustain and uphold you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken (slip, fall, fail).” The AMPC says: “Cast your burden on the LORD (releasing the weight of it)”. Releasing the weight of it. I love that. What is ‘the weight of it’? It is all the ‘what if’s’. It is the potential ramifications and consequences. It is everything unpleasant or painful past, present and future. It is the frustration of others’ bad decisions that have consequences for your life or theirs….. This weight is not yours to bear. You cannot bear it. You cannot solve it. You cannot fix it. You cannot control it. If you could have, you would have. So stop! Release it to Jesus. Release the weight of it. He is standing right in front of you, with His arms extended, ready to receive that burden.
Look at Jesus’ hands. What do you see? His hands are full also, but they are full of grace that He wants to extend to you. Upon His hands He has written your name (Isaiah 49:16). Look further and see the holes made by the spikes. Such extreme love. That is what His hands are full of. And He extends them to you…will you release your burden to His hands?
Other burdens are even heavier, requiring that we carry them on our back. This kind of burden, because of the weight of it, causes us to become bowed down. Our walk is hindered. We must tread slowly because we can only see inches in front of us. We cannot look up. We cannot look around. We cannot move freely. The heavy burden determines our course. The weight of it is obvious to others even though it may be our ‘normal’.
Look at Jesus’ back. What do you see? His back is scarred from the severe torture He endured before the cross. But it is because of and within these ‘stripes’ that we are healed (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24). Is this a spiritual healing, a physical healing, or both? In the Hebrew, the word used in Isaiah is “iaomai”: to heal, cure, restore to bodily health, to heal spiritually. In 1 Peter, the Greek is “raphe”: to heal, repair, make whole. For me, just as provision was made by Jesus’ blood for our spiritual healing/forgiveness/restoration to relationship with the Father, and we have a choice to believe it and receive it, or deny it and reject it, so provision was made by Jesus’ stripes for our physical healing/restoration/wholeness, and we have a choice to believe it and receive it, or deny it and reject it. Both are a mysterious combination of our individual choice and the sovereignty of God in our lives.
But regardless of your belief on this issue, all of our ‘burdens’ (be they physical, emotional, relational, financial.... whatever category they fall into) have a spiritual component. Jesus ‘carried’ your burden on His back so that you do not have to. This burden that is too heavy for your hands to bear, will you let Jesus’ take it from you? Will you release the weight of it to Him right now?
Other burdens are so heavy we cannot even carry them on our back. Like a huge boulder, they sit there in the middle of our lives and we cannot even budge them, much less lift them. They obstruct every aspect of our lives. Sometimes we try to ignore them and navigate around them, but that only works for so long. We have enlisted the help of others along the way, and worn out several relationships because it was too heavy even for both of us. All we can really do is point to this boulder and say, “Help me, Jesus!” And maybe we’ve done this before without resolution. Oftentimes that is because we are trying to simultaneously release the weight and control the outcome. It does not work that way.
It has been helpful for me over the years, to write out a particular burden – all the awful potential ‘what ifs – all the frustration, grief, anger, unfairness…. Sometimes this has been a process that has taken days. And when everything is on those sheets of paper, I have literally presented them to Jesus-- repented of my self-reliance (and whatever else needed repenting of), and surrendered the entire situation to His care. Out loud. Then I either tore up the papers or burned them (outside!), and spent time reading some psalms (pre-selected) out loud in praise and worship to Him. This can be a very powerful thing. When tempted to worry, just remind the enemy that this is no longer your problem – he needs to take it up with Jesus.
So, whatever burden is distracting, hindering, weighing you down, obstructing your life…. Will you release it to Jesus now? He is waiting for you. He wants to sustain and uphold you, but you have to let go of the burden AND the resolution. Regardless of the outcome. He cares for you. Perfectly. Consistently. Eternally.
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