Submitted by David Miller
Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
I was once
the story of a man driving his pickup truck on a country track saw a woman
carrying a heavy load, so he stopped and offered her a lift. The woman
expressed her gratitude and climbed into the back of the truck.
A moment
later, the man noticed a strange thing: the woman was still holding onto her
heavy load despite sitting in the vehicle! Astonished, he pleaded, “Please, Madam, put down your load
and take your rest. My truck can carry you and your stuff. Just relax.”
This begs
the question: What do we do with the load of
fear, worry, and anxiety we often carry as we go through life's many
challenges? Instead of relaxing in the Lord, I
think we sometimes behave like that woman. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), yet many
times we catch ourselves carrying burdens that we should offload onto Jesus.
Martin Luther once wrote in a letter to his wife, "Pray, and let God
worry."
God isn't going to worry, of course. But we still need to pray, because
we worry about a lot of things.
We put down
our burdens when we bring them to the Lord in prayer. The apostle Peter says, “Cast all your anxiety on [Jesus] because he cares for you”
(1 Peter 5:7). Because He cares for us, we can
rest and relax as we learn to trust Him. Instead of carrying the burdens that
weigh us down, we can give them to the Lord and let Him carry them.
I have
unnecessarily worried about things. I've fretted and have been filled with
anxiety. We all have because we are human. However, think about this; when we
worry, we're essentially saying, "God isn't in control. He isn't taking care of me
in this situation. I'm not trusting in the providence of God." But if we can really believe the Bible, then we will know that God is in
control of all circumstances that surround our life, and there are no so-called
accidents in the life of a believer.
That is an
important thing to remember, because worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its
sorrows; it empties today of its strength.
Philippians
4:6 tells us, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about
everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."
Turn
your worries into prayers. The next time you are gripped by fear and worry,
turn it into a prayer like this one: "Lord,
I don't know what to do, but I trust You. You are in control, and I commit this
to You right now." Look to the Lord, and let Him give you His
peace. I promise you, He will.
