January 12 - Heavy Burdens

January 12

Heavy Burdens

Mt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you…..and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

A missionary from South America explained how burdens were handled in the Indian tribe he worked with. The tribe grew sweet potatoes. At harvest time the potatoes would be loaded into net like bags with head straps and carried down to the village a few miles away. Women carried the 100 pounds of potatoes while the men walked along with a machete for protection. The missionary sat with the men one night around a campfire and asked why only women carried the bags of potatoes. There was shocked silence! Finally one of the tribal leaders spoke. “What? You are a man of God and do not know? When God made the woman he gave her the bones of a mule. A man could hurt himself carry heavy loads” 

The tribal leader was partially correct, in that a person could hurt themselves by carrying heavy burdens. But he was talking about physical burdens and not spiritual burdens. Perhaps the heaviest burdens are emotional, mental and spiritual.  How goes it with you friend? Are you suffering under a heavy burden. It is not a new problem and you are not alone. Just think of all the hymns that mention burdens. –Burdens are lifted, I must tell Jesus, Leave it there, Tell it to Jesus, etc.

People can hurt themselves by bearing heavy spiritual burdens.  I see lots of Christians who are good God fearing people who are burdened down with care. They are worried about an unsaved spouse, wayward children, health issues, financial woes, and the general cares of this degenerating world. Each generation seems to lose more of the ethics and spiritual awareness that used to exist. Some days we are almost overwhelmed with additional burdens being piled on the mountain of care we already have.  Many of us can appreciate what the Psalmist had to say about trouble and burdens.

Ps 38:6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.  

Ps 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.

And in addition to our own burdens we are told to add other people’s burdens to our own!

Ga 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens….

Is this what being a Christian is all about; Feeling burdened all the time?  NO!- Not at all.  

Mt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Mt 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

How can He be talking about a light burden and an easy yoke? Doesn’t He understand all my burdens are heavy?  Well, yes He does. What we fail to understand is if we have heavy burdens they are self-imposed.  Christ never intended for us to be heavily burdened.  Then why are we?  We have done it to ourselves by not having the faith to trust God to care for things we cannot control.  Taking on worries is the evidence that we won’t trust God and accept His will. Gentle reader I do not mean to be harsh, nor insensitive to your problems. Some Christians are called to endure much. But God’s grace is sufficient.  Christ can give you peace and happiness in the worst circumstances.

I remember hearing Richard Wurmbrand, the author of Tortured for Christ, speak about his experiences in a communist prison.  He was beaten almost daily for preaching the Gospel. But he was happy. How can that be? He said they were forbidden to preach, but they loved to preach, and the guards loved to beat them. So everyone was quite happy!

An old hymn says “…take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.”  Too often we take our burdens to the Lord and then pick them back up and take them with us because He may not take care of them the way we want. We have to do it ourselves. We know we should trust Him but....!

If you bare heavy burdens it may take some time for you to learn to leave them at the Masters feet, trust Him to care for all according to His will. That does not mean you forget them, or stop praying about them. Is the Christ you worship big enough to care for your problems?  Then leave them with Him. Stop carrying them about with you every day and everywhere. Remember heavy burdens are self-imposed.