Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22

Dear God, this was the verse from My Utmost for His Highest today, and Oswald Chambers’ take on it was really good. I even forwarded it to a friend this morning who has been going through some trials. Here are some excerpts that I liked:

“We must distinguish between the burden-bearing that is right and the burden-bearing that is wrong. We ought never to bear the burden of sin or of doubt, but there are burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off, He wants us to roll them back on Him.”

This is what caught my eye immediately. How often do we try to get rid of the burdens you want us to bear so that you can shape us into who you know we can be, but we will hold on to the burden of shame and secrecy that comes with sins we commit and maybe even the sins committed against us? There is a song called “Blessings” by Laura Story that perfectly describes how your burdens might be shaping us. I’ll paste the lyrics at the end of this prayer.

“Many workers have gone out with high courage and fine impulses, but with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, and before long they are crushed.”

I am guilty, guilty, guilty of this. I am so guilty of this. I get an idea and then I trust in myself to try to pull it off. But the times in my life when I have seen the most success from my work are the times when I have earnestly prayed to you. Now there have been situations about which I have prayed and you didn’t answer quickly and they went a different direction than I hoped. I have been disappointed in you. There have been times I have yelled at you. But I truly know that whenever I go “out with high courage and fine impulses,” but I don’t lead with an earnest seeking of you then even if things turn out okay there is not nearly as much joy and victory in them.

“Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it.”

I need to not only embrace my burden, but put myself there with it. I love that! I love the idea of not just throwing my burden to the cross, but also putting me there with the burden. After all, I am the one with whom the burden resides. I remember when my children were young and I was struggling to parent them, I asked a friend, “How do I turn my children over to God? I don’t know what that looks like because I am still responsible for them.” But reading this, I think the answer is that I put myself there with them, in your loving arms.

Father, help me to lead with you today. Please bless the fruit of my work. Whether it is with my wife, my children, my job, or my family and friends, bless my path. Be glorified in me and through me so that others might see you when they see me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

“Blessings” Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise