God Daily Bears our Burdens

 

Psalm 68:19-20 “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” (NIV)

The other day there was an auction near where I live. The entire house and all that was in it was to be sold on the auction block. As I viewed everything set out on the lawn, I thought that men store up many things…we simply collect a little bit of everything over our lifetime. As men, it isn't just things we collect, but we also collect burdens from our lives that threaten to steal away our joy. These burdens collect, and over time if they are not properly dealt with, they will crush our spirit and steal our joy. Unlike with the collection of things which motivates us to hold a garage sale to get rid of them, burdens require us to give them to someone who can deal with them, and there is singularly only one person we can cast our burdens or anxieties on that will help release us from the pressure, pain, and sense of powerlessness these burdens create in our lives.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him (God) because he cares for you.” That is what we must do when our burdens collect and weigh us down. Unfortunately, many of us choose to hold onto our burdens and not cast them on Jesus Christ, because we would prefer to nurse our hurt rather than get rid of it. I know it seems hard to believe, but it is true with all of us who do not spend time alone with our God. Burdens are as real as a bad toothache, and they are not designed to be tolerated in the healthy mind. We cannot bear our own burdens, but we can certainly bear the burden of Jesus Christ because it is light and we will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30).

Psalm 68 is a psalm of praise, celebration, and unleashed joy in the lives of God’s people because of the victory he gives us. In our devotional text we gain insight into a great spiritual truth: God daily bears our burdens as we live in this world. God doesn't take vacation days and he doesn't get sick or tired or disinterested, he simply is always there to bear our burdens IF we are willing to allow him to by casting our burdens on him. God is able to save us and deliver us from the evil and death in this world IF we are willing to shed burdens we unnecessarily carry around. The weight of sin, mistakes, broken relationships, or “what could have been” will stymie your spiritual growth in Christ, because when you are unwilling to share your burdens, you continue to practice the devil’s lie that you are in control and you must fix things because God doesn't care or can’t be trusted to deal with your burdens. Never believe the devil’s lie, but trust God to accept your burdens and lead you forward to victory in this life and the assurance of eternal life. It simply doesn't get any better than that. Why hang on to what you cannot carry rather than giving it the powerful helping hand of God?

TODAY, FATHER, I CHOOSE TO CAST MY BURDENS ON YOU BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WILL BEAR THEM DAILY AND FREE ME FROM THE WEIGHT OF WHAT DRAGS DOWN MY JOY AND PEACE IN THIS WORLD. THANK YOU DEAR GOD FOR YOUR MERCIFUL LOVE. AMEN!

You are invited to join us for worship at the Summit church of Christ in Cold Spring, KY.