‘Father, I place into your hands
The things I cannot do,
Father, I place into your hands
The things that I’ve been through.
Father, I place into your hands
The way that I should go,
For I know I always can trust you’.
This song reminds us to cast all our burdens, anxieties to God, because He cares for us. He comforts and strengthens us. He gives peace to our heart.
We see the prayer which King Jehoshaphat prayed in 2 Chronicles 20:5-12. He prayed when he encountered a big trouble, in his life. He was afraid but he looked to God and was praying to God. He didn’t know what to do, he placed all his burdens into the Lord’s hand.
V12, ‘O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”’
The Lord answered King Jehoshaphat, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.’
The Lord heard his prayer and answered him. The Lord says, ‘Give all your burdens to me, I will take care of all your problems, you stand still, I will bring victory and fight for you’.
The Holy Spirit says,
Psalms 55:22, ‘Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken’.
Also, 1 Peter 5:7, ‘casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you’.
NLT version, ‘Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you’.
There are two types of burdens in our hearts:
- The burden which is right – This burden is given to us by God. It is the spiritual burden of ourselves or for others.
- The burden which is not right – God doesn’t want us to have this type of burden at all. He doesn’t want us to carry these burdens in our lives! These are the anxieties about the future, our children, us and the burden to sin – the weight of the temptation to sin.
God always wants us to experience His rest and peace in our lives. Let us cast all our anxieties, burdens which brings restlessness in our hearts; to God. He carries all our burdens and gives us His rest. Let us not become wearied and burdened by these burdens. Let us cast all our burdens on Him and always experience His rest and joy in our hearts.
There is an illustration from Br. Zac, ‘A poor man was carrying a heavy load on his shoulders, walking on the road. A truck driver saw him and asked the man to come sit, in his truck, and he would drop him at the place, he is going. The poor man sat in the truck, after some time, the driver saw through the mirror that the poor man was sitting, still carrying his heavy load on his shoulders’! He could have put the load down next to him and he could be at rest and enjoy his ride. God wants us to cast all our burdens on Him and be at rest in Him.
Matthew 11:28, ‘Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’
All our sins, burdens, cares and anxieties; let us cast all these to God and experience His rest.
Psalms 81:6, ‘“I relieved his shoulder of the burden, His hands were freed from the basket’.
God says, ‘I will take away, the load away from your shoulder; I will free your hands from the heavy task.’
Believers and unbelievers, both are facing many situations. The good news for the believers is that, ‘whatever may be our burdens and sins, we can cast them all on to the Lord and we can be at rest and have peace as God cares for us’- This is the good news. We have Him as our friend, as the song says, ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’. We should not carry all these burdens and anxieties with us! If we carry them with us, it affects our spiritual health as well as our physical health.
Luke 8:14, ‘The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity’.
If we carry the burdens with us, it will not bring any fruit to maturity, in our lives. The real fruit is peace. We cannot experience joy and peace in our hearts, if we are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life. These worries and cares, are the stumbling blocks. It prevents the fruit from maturity – prevents the fruit to be produced in our lives’.
Hebrews 12:1, ‘Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
The burden to sin, will slow us down, in the race which God has set before us. When we are running with these burdens and worries in our hearts, it will slow us down in our race. Finally, it may lead to back-sliding! This is the danger.
Psalms 68:19, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation’.
Our God is bearing our burdens daily. Whatever may be our burdens, let us cast them on the Lord, as He cares for us. He wants us to experience the real peace and rest in our lives.
King David: When he went through distress, he strengthened himself in the Lord.
1 Samuel 30:6, ‘Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God’.
David is facing many situations in his life here. He was distressed.
V3, ‘When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep’.
In the midst of all his problems, he strengthened himself in the Lord. We have to be at rest and peace always, in our Christian lives.
Let us share each other’s’ burdens: In our Church, we have blessed brothers and sisters. We can share our burdens with them, to fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2, ‘Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ’.
We can pray for each other, so the burdens we share, will be reduced. We can be at rest and experience the real peace in our lives.
Hebrews 3:12, ‘Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin’.
Let us also encourage each other, each day, so none of us will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 10:25, ‘not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.’
As a Church, we can share our burdens and pray for each other and encourage each other, in the Lord; all the more as the day is drawing near.
Moses: He was burdened with so many things.
Numbers 11:11-14, ‘So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12 Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ 14 I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me’.
Moses says to God, ‘it is too burdensome for me’. Moses speaks to God as a friend. God always encourages us. He does miracles.
V16, ‘The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone’.
We see God’s provision, God says, ‘gather 70 men from the elders of Israel and I will put my spirit on them and you can share your burden with them.’
God gave us brothers and sisters in our Church. By sharing our burdens with each other and praying for each other, we can fulfill the law of Christ, in the Church.
Isaiah 41:6, ‘Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, “Be strong!” 7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, “It is good”; And he fastens it with nails, So that it will not totter’.
We see here, the fellowship of encouragement. The craftsman is encouraging the smelter and the smelter is encouraging the one who beats the anvil. Individually, each one is encouraging in the fellowship. They are encouraged among themselves, through fellowship. We are encouraged to enjoy the fellowship in our Church. God does not want us to be burdened of anything in our lives. This is the privilege in the body of Christ. Let us encourage each other. He will not allow the righteous to be shaken. God cares about us. Our God is a loving God. Surrender everything to Him and experience His rest. He carries all our burdens. He is a good friend.
Philippians 4:6,7, ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’.
May God help us.
