Let’s face it- it seems like everyone around is tired. We’re all pushed in a thousand different directions, trying to keep it all together, balancing (is balance even possible??) and juggling plates- family, work, kids, finances, schedules, just life in general.
I’m not the greatest at stress management and self care (social workers are the worst about this!) but I’m starting to recognize when I feel it rise. I can tell when my anxiety level and stress levels are high- my shoulders get tense and hurt. It’s like they physically hurt from carrying all of the things. Sometimes it feels like I’m the hamster in the wheel- it keeps spinning but I’m getting nowhere.
I was reading Psalms last week when I was reminded (I need to be reminded a lot!) that I was never meant to carry the burdens and deal with it by myself. I’ve probably read this Psalm 68 a thousand times and I even have this next verse highlighted but it was like I was reading it for the very first time. “Praise be to the Lord, to God, our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. (emphasis mine) Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. “ I don’t have to carry the burdens- at all.
God carries our burdens daily. The burdens are not going to go away. They may change but aren’t going to disappear completely. (John 16:33)
We weren’t meant to bear them- we have a Burden Bearer-Jesus. I don’t think this needs any more explanation!
We have to daily cast our burdens at the feet of Jesus. 1 Peter 5:17 tells us to “Cast all of your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.” This isn’t a suggestion or recommendation from God. It’s a command. His shoulders were big enough to carry the Cross and His shoulders are big enough to carry the weight of our burdens.
Casting our burdens is a daily act of surrender. It’s laying everything at the foot of the Cross and leaving it there. It’s realizing that He must become greater and we must become less. (John 3:30)
So let’s lighten the load today- laying everything at Jesus’ feet. Our shoulders and hearts will thank us.