My daughter drives a diesel, which she normally loves, however with diesel prices rising so drastically lately, she is watching where she goes and what amount of weight she is carrying.
Her vehicle gets great diesel mileage, so it hasn’t really been something she’s even thought about. However, one thing that makes a big difference in the amount of diesel she uses per trip is the load she is carrying. If she is simply driving to run errands, it’s great.
But, on those days that she is hauling a couple of horses and a trailer, the amount of diesel she uses increases greatly. You can almost watch the gas hand fall.
What’s the difference? The load she is carrying.
Sometimes, our lives can be much the same. The burdens or loads we choose to carry can make a big difference in how far our energy, faith and resilience last.
The older I get, the more I realize that I am carrying things my God never meant for me to carry. Things like what others think. Things like burdens that don’t belong to me and things I can do nothing about. These things can wear us out if we allow them to. They can take all our energy and peace and leave us depleted and weary.
When we become weary, we may feel like our faith is not strong enough – perhaps, just maybe, it’s not that our faith isn’t great enough, but could it be that we are carrying too great of a load. Or that we are carrying things we shouldn’t be carrying.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.” (Mt 11:28-30)
Psalm 55:22 says, Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Matthew 6:34, teaches us, So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
Jesus never intended for us to carry weight that does not belong to us. Instead, we cast that weight over on Him and allow Him to carry it.
Furthermore, we are not to worry about what tomorrow brings – why? Because He is already there and He says He will go before us and make the crooked places straight. When we worry about tomorrow, we are not trusting Him to keep His word.
My friend, I believe with all my heart, God wants His people whole – one way of becoming whole is that we must refuse to carry weight and burdens that do not belong to us. We must learn to truly cast our cares upon Him KNOWING and fully persuaded that He cares for us.
And we must trust Him in our tomorrows. Remembering, He is already there.
