(I realize that this is a repeat from Facebook, but I posted it 15 months ago, so hopefully it's not too fresh in your minds if you recognize it. I was having trouble sleeping and Someone was nudging me about this).
Every day we find ourselves laden with burdens of many kinds. Bad news from a friend, conflict at work, a failed test, death of a loved one, troubled relationships, isolation, depression…all kinds. We carry these things around on our minds and our hearts all day because we don’t want anyone to know our struggles. We don’t want anyone to see past the perfect veneer we’ve put up. Even though we know in our minds that no one is perfect, we’re afraid to show our imperfections.
There’s one person who can always see past the masks we wear. That person is our Father, who wants to make us perfect again. He sees the burdens we carry, the struggles we have, the tears we shed. He knows all about it. He carried the same burdens. In fact, he carried the burdens of every single person on the face of the earth. He knows our pain intimately. It breaks his heart to see our tears and know that we are trying to carry our baggage by ourselves.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…You will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28, 29)
Come to me,
Give me your sadness,
Give me your pain,
Give me your tears,
Give me your heartache,
Give me your worries,
Give me your fears,
Give me your shame,
Give me your doubt,
Give me your anger,
Give me your stress,
Give me your imperfection,
Give me your troubles,
Give me your everything,
And I will give you rest.
He wants to take it all. Lift up your burdens to our God who can handle them. Raise your arms, heavy-laden, above your head and say, “God, I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t carry these by myself, I need your help, I don’t want to feel this pain anymore.” And He’ll do it. Trust Him with it, He won’t drop it on your head. He’ll take everything you have, all your pain and trouble, everything, because He carried all those burdens to the cross for us.
And there’s nothing we have to do or even can do to receive this blessing. God gives it to us, free of charge, because he loves us so much. We weren’t meant to carry burdens like this. We weren’t meant to feel pain like this. We were meant to live in complete harmony with each other. Since that’s out of the question now, God gives us the opportunity to receive that harmony again. He wants with all His heart for us to come to Him with our troubles and lay them at His feet. He wants nothing to stand in the way of our relationship with him. It’s like we’re standing in a room with God, but there are boxes stacked floor-to-ceiling creating a wall between us and Him. We can’t see Him or hear Him, and that puts a stress on our relationship with Him. But as soon as we ask, He begins to remove the boxes, and we can see his face again. He makes a path for us between the boxes and reaches out to us. To fold us in and wrap his arms around us.
All we have to do is ask.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…You will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28, 29)
Imagine that God is sitting in a big ole comfy armchair. He calls you over with his hands held out, waiting for you to climb up into his lap. In our times of darkest and deepest needs, He’s there to hold us safe. In those times when it feels like the rain will never stop, He’s there to cover us with the umbrella of His love. In those times when we feel as though we are nothing, He’s there to whisper in our ear, over and over, You are everything. You are everything. YOU are EVERYTHING. In those times when we feel like it’s not worth it anymore, when our eyes are so clouded by the pain of this world, He’s there to hold our head against His chest and catch our tears as they fall. In those times, He whispers to us, You are everything. You are worth it. You are mine. I love you.
Lift up your burdens. Nothing is too heavy, or too shameful, or too hard, or too impossible for our great God to carry. Every day, let go of what you carry. Every day, claim the love and blessing God has for you. Every day, take your Daddy’s hand and walk with Him. And you will find rest for your soul.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)
Summer has been rough and boys/relationships have made it rougher. The line "We carry these things around on our minds and our hearts all day because we don’t want anyone to know our struggles." hit me really hard. It's not like I am (or ever have been for that matter) in a relationship, but that doesn't mean I don't have boy troubles. And let me tell you these troubles are on my mind and heart all day, everyday, and it downright stinks. I don't want things like relationship troubles to be weighing on my heart and invading my mind and putting me into an awful mood, but I let them and I don't want to talk about these struggles because I feel ridiculous. I want to give it to God but at the same time this is one part of my life I want to control. Sigh. Any boy advice? I don't think my heart can handle much more, but giving it to God is not an easy task. And I almost don't think I can do it...
ReplyDeleteA frustrated(and faithful!)blog reader,
J
Once again you have expressed what we all experience one time or another. God bless you for being willing to share your heart and insights in such a profound and compelling way.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Nana
Dear J,
ReplyDeleteWill you at least tell me your first name? :)
First of all, I can guarantee you 150,000,000% that you are NOT the only one that has felt what you are feeling. I promise. Boy trouble and relationship trouble are universal. I've had more than enough of it in my lifetime. I promise that there are people out there who know how you feel and would be willing to chat with you about it. Don't feel ridiculous. We're all ridiculous. :)
And you're right. Giving it up to God is one of the hardest things in the world. I think it's because our burdens take up so much space on our minds and in our hearts and they seem so insurmountable. Take it one piece/relationship at a time. One day at a time. One thought at a time. STart with what's on your mind today, and tell God that you want Him to take whatever it is and put it far away from you. But then, once you've done that, don't take it back from Him again later.
It's like you're standing by a lake, holding a fishing pole, and you've attached this burden, whatever it is (boy, relationship, something frustrating, etc.), to the hook. Cast that fishing pole as far as you can into the water, and then set it down on the ground and WALK AWAY. It's gotta be the same thing with God - give Him the burden, then walk away from it.
I know that's hard to do, believe me, and that's why I said start small. Give Him a piece of your burden every day until it's gone.
Maybe it's so hard because boys and relationships have come to form a big part of who you are? Or how you see yourself?
One little bit at at time, got it. I will TRY. I think it is way easier to know what I have to do as opposed to actually doing it...unfortunately. And really this is basically the first relationship type thing that has ever taken place in my life so I don't think relationships are a big part of who I am but this boy is playing.with.my.heart. and yet for some reason I still like him...again with my ridiculousness.
ReplyDeletegive. it. to. God.
andddd...GO!
thanks :)
and two days later...I was going to tell you my name (aka not comment anonymously) but apparently I didn't. I sometimes re-read my comments to make sure I didn't sound too ridiculous (thus how I made this realization). Although if I had thought I sounded too ridiculous there is really nothing I would have been able to do about it.
ReplyDelete