I can tell when I’m feeling overwhelmed and overloaded by life. I snap at my family. I can’t stop the spinning in my mind. I sigh a lot, and I feel agitated, dizzy. I liken it to my pressure cooker in the kitchen, hissing and spitting as it releases excess pressure so it doesn’t explode.
Many of us right now are stewing in the pressure of burdens.
• We carry our family’s burdens.
• We carry friends’ burdens.
• We carry the burden of political divisions.
• We carry the burden of social media overload.
• We carry the burden of work.
• We carry the burden of illness.
• We carry the burden of broken relationships and grief.
• We carry the burden of runaway thoughts.
What Does the Bible Say About Burdens?
Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The Bible never says we won’t have problems and struggles. They’re part of life. But how we manage them makes all the difference. The verses above tell us what to do. We are to cast them on the Lord. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
I believe it was Tim Ayers who preached a sermon at Grace a few years ago about these very verses in Matthew. Tim studied the word yoke and found that this wasn’t a two-animal (or person) yoke. It actually means a one-animal (or person) yoke.
That one person wearing the yoke and bearing the burdens is not meant to be you or me. It’s meant to be Jesus.
How Do We Shift Our Burdens to Jesus?
The only way I’ve learned to stop the pressure building in my body, soul, and spirit is to release my burdens by taking them to the Lord in prayer, just like the song says. Now I don’t know about you, but when I’m feeling burdened it’s hard for me to —bam!— do an instant stop-and-drop of my burdens. I find it difficult to stop moving, stop ruminating, stop talking about my concerns. I have to make the space in my life to do this.
And when I don’t, I pay the price.
In this week’s sermon, Pastor Maron tells about finding the real third verse of the hymn What A Friend We Have in Jesus. Instead of saying “Are we weak and heavy laden,” as written in our hymnals, what Joseph Scriven really wrote were the sobering words “Are we cold and unbelieving.”
I’ve found it’s all too easy for distance and doubts to creep into my relationship with God when I’m not spending time with Him.
Making the space in life to go from pressured to pray-er can look like this for me as I decompress with Jesus.
• Take a walk to burn off some adrenaline/energy.
• Ride my bike.
• Practice deep breathing.
• Say some breath prayers. (Pick a short verse of scripture like “Be still and know that I am God.” Inhale and say “Be still and know.” Exhale and say “that I am God.” Repeat several times.)
• Go outside in my garden to pull a few weeds and gather myself.
• Listen to praise music— and maybe dance.
By then, I’m usually calmer. Next I repent of any sin, tell God about my burdens, and ask for His intervention in lives and situations. I then listen for anything He may want to reveal to me. And I write it down so I don’t forget. It’s a process.
Make It a Practice
I’ve also come to realize if I make a regular practice out of meeting with God each day (some people call this “the Secret Place”) then it’s much easier to practice casting those burdens off each day. If I don’t make the space and time, my “pressure release valve” gets stuck, I don’t release my burdens, and the pressure and weight build to distressing levels.
But it’s in the Secret Place with Jesus that I can be true, authentic, and vulnerable. And it’s there He exchanges my burdens for His rest. He will for you too.