I don’t buy a new purse very often. My last purse was falling apart before my eyes, so I caved and bought myself a new one. I picked a very plain, pretty grey one. Not too big, not too small, just perfect. As soon as I got it home, I transferred only the essentials over. I didn’t want it overflowing with stuff I didn’t need. I wanted to keep it nice, light, and tidy. That way I could find what I needed when I needed to find it and quickly. Sounds simple enough, right?

Jump ahead a few months and over time, I started to dread shopping. Shopping of any kind just wore me out because there were many other important things I needed to save my energy for. So during one of my limited shopping outings, I noticed myself telling my husband my purse was just too heavy to carry. I even asked him to take it from me a few times, bless his heart. By the time we got home, the purse was dropped, and I forgot it was an issue.

Then came the day I needed something that I thought was in my purse. As I looked for the item, the more I realized how full my purse had become. How in the world did it get so full?! Without even noticing it, things had accumulated. One small thing at a time had started to pile up, making it way more heavy than it needed to be.

And isn’t that kind of like life? Maybe you can relate?

I know God loves me so, so much, and He wants to take my burdens from me. I know I can hand them over and then just savor the freedom that brings.

Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 55:22 (ESV)

I also know that many times, without even realizing what I am doing, I pick them right back up to carry myself. It can be hard to let go. It can be hard to trust God, even when we say we do.

But when things aren’t going the way we think they should or things aren’t happening as quickly as we think they should, we can all too easily go back and pick our burdens right back up, even though we know they are too much to handle.

Our human thinking makes us believe that we can just take care of it ourselves, that we somehow know better. But it’s not true! All we are doing is adding to the load on our shoulders, adding worry and concern, filling up our purse past the point of even being able to carry it.

Only when we truly trust God, lay down our burdens, and leave them with Him will we understand the peace that surpasses all understanding. There is so much out of our control, so it does us no good to carry these things. We have to be willing to hand it over and then let God handle it. If anyone can handle it, He can. Trust that He knows exactly how to deal with all the worries and cares. Trust that He knows more. Trust that He will see it through. Trust that He sees the bigger picture.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

So all those things that hurt us, weigh us down, and distract us, give it to Him. Let it go because He’s got it! We don’t have to carry all that around. He wants to take it because He loves and cares for us so much.

I understand this sounds like one of those “easier said than done” things. Believe me, I get it! I know it isn’t my first reaction to cast away my burdens and most importantly, leave them with Him. But I do hope the more I do it, the more I trust, the more natural it will become, and I hope the same for you as well.

 

All those things that hurt us, weigh us down, and distract us, give it to Him. -Jennifer Ueckert: Click To Tweet Leave a Comment