Give Your Burdens
How do we live out our faith each day?
Verse of the Day
“Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”
Today’s Devotional
We are taking a break from the “red letter” teachings of Jesus, because I am feeling an invitation to look at what the Word is teaching me for today. Today I feel burdened.
Part of what we do with our faith is give our burdens to God. God went to great lengths to secure our salvation, and He also wants to be involved in our everyday lives. Why else would today’s verse be in the Bible?
But…sometimes I think that I need to be strong. And sometimes I do need to actually behave with strength and courage. But for me, before I do that, I have to be weak. I have to be honest with myself and with the Lord about what is really going on inside of me.
Many things in this life are burdensome. Doing the next right thing ALL THE TIME is tiring. (And impossible, by the way.) Living on this planet comes with its fair share of troubles.
A few weeks ago I noticed myself feeling timid before God. I did not want to give my burdens to God because I did not want it to seem like I was complaining. But I think there is a difference between complaining and just getting real and honest and vulnerable. God can clearly see how weak and weary and tired and frustrated I get. So me not talking to God about it is silly.
This verse implies a promise. IF I give my burdens to the Lord, THEN he will take care of me. If I am not being real with God, then I am not in the right frame of mind to receive His help with my burdens. God never expects us to be strong without His help. I think He expects us to be real with ourselves and Him about our weakness and need. Only then is our perspective correct. That’s what humility actually looks like.
Today, I am not in a place of strength. I am in a place of feeling spent. And tired. So I need to be real with God about that. I need to tell him that today’s work feels heavy. I need to be honest about the fact that I am struggling with one of my “assignments”. I need to ask for help to be present and kind and loving. I need to believe that God will not let me slip and fall, as long as I am being honest with him and sharing my burdens with him.
And in the middle of feeling this way, I think it’s important that I also choose to find gratitude. I have so much to be grateful for. I have a God who wants to help me with the things in my life that are hard. I have a home and food. I have a husband that I adore who loves me for who I am. I have a community of people that I love. I am safe. As I sit here and write those things, it lifts my spirits. I am exceedingly grateful that the God of Creation loves me enough to help me in my day-to-day burdens. It’s indescribable. It ignites joy.
I will close today with a similar verse from Psalms 62:8. “O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.”
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What burdens do you need to pour out to God today?
How can you give Him access to your heart and allow Him to intervene?
Have you ever felt timid before God?
How does today’s verse give you hope?
What do you have to be grateful for today?