Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. ~ Psalms 55:22
Study and Meditation
Cast – to throw or set aside, hurl, fling, to part with, lose, to shed or drop
Burden – that which is carried; load; that which is borne with difficulty
Sustain – to support, hold, or bear up from below
Suffer – to endure; to tolerate or allow
I am to give my entire burden to the Lord, not just part of it. Casting means throwing it off, not only slipping it off, laying it down gently and walking away. Sounds to me like there is aggression or a type of violence involved in getting rid of burdens.
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Recently, I heard a lady speak of the turmoil going on in her life. She described her emotional state “like waves tossed to and fro.” Sounds like a lot of moving, doesn’t it? Anxiety and fear can cause emotional instability, and when you are unstable, you are more likely to say things and make decisions that you will regret later.
In light of this description, I remembered James 1:5-6. In the first part of the passage, he advises us to ask God for wisdom.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But then, he gives a warning:
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
So this lady’s description of her emotional state like “waves tossed to and fro” tells me that she is wavering. In other words, doubt is ruling her mind at the moment. Boy have I been there!
Today, in particular, I am tired, so I have been vulnerable to this kind of emotional reaction regarding some burdens I carry. Instead of casting them to Jesus as I should have, I have laid them down carefully, and because of that I can see them. I am tempted to pick them up again as if I can now do something about them. I can feel myself begin to waver under the heaviness and I know if I keep my eyes on those burdens before I know it I will start to react with fear, anxiety, and worry. Such a vicious cycle.
Today though my prayer has been Lord change me! If the burdens are always a part of life, Change me God! I am just tired of these things in me, honestly. I felt that old mindset rise up and I looked toward the burdens as is my habit but then something rose up inside me. It was the Spirit of the Lord, and as though He were carrying a great big stop sign, He brought those feelings to a complete halt by commanding,
“Stop!”
And then He said,
“I don’t want you going down this road, no more than you want to. I want you to get into My Word for ALL of your reactions and turn from this road down a hidden path. And when you are safely on this path, I want you to seal every step in your heart by writing it all down.”
The path was hidden by many, many bushes full of huge thorns. I saw them as the burdens surrounding the entrance to keep people from going down this little trail that was just barely traveled.
His care for me and His value of this hidden path He has sent me to, surprised me!
At that moment, with His touch and His leading, I set my mind on the path of faith. I determined that I will be single-minded. I will trust the situations of my present life to God no matter how I feel or how it looks to my natural eyes or to others.
God also reminded me of something important during this experience: Faith is a supernatural act. If you limit your mind to the natural (only what you can see, hear, feel, or think), then you narrow the options that God has to work on your behalf. But if you elevate your mind to the supernatural through faith, then you are able to take action based on complete confidence in God’s care for you and your journey.
Prayer
Help me, Lord to cast all my burdens on You. Not just today but every day and minute by minute if necessary. Help me to not waver in doubt but to trust both the old paths and the new paths that are all your path for my life. Change me, Lord. It is my prayer. In Jesus Name! Amen!!!
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