"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."¹
Adina in South Africa:
As I was asking my Beloved Lord what to share in this lesson, He reminded me of the verses He has been giving me over the last few days.
"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."²
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”³
Sometimes we try to carry so many heavy burdens, whether it is a broken or strained relationship, changes happening in our lives, work, finances, decisions we must make, or simply the heavy emotions from a trial we are going through. The more we try to carry these burdens ourselves, the more weary we become, until we eventually feel like giving up. It reminded me of the lesson in Living the Abundant Life, "When do We Give Up?"
Before I started my journey, I used to overthink everything—whether it was work-related or simply things going on in my life. It affected my sleep, causing many sleepless nights, which eventually led me to just give up. But not in a good way—I simply gave up.
Since my journey began, however, I have learned how to GIVE UP and LET IT GO by placing everything into the hands of my Beloved Lord, the only ONE who can carry my burdens and the only ONE who can truly do something about my situation. In exchange, He replaced all the stress and burdens I was carrying with REST FOR MY SOUL and PEACE beyond all understanding.
In the beginning, I found that I would give everything to my Beloved Lord, but when I felt He was taking too long, I was quick to take it all back, only to become weary again. I had to learn not only to give Him all my burdens but also to wait for Him to work everything out in His perfect timing.
"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him"⁴
Waiting was so difficult for me. I couldn't even stand in a queue for more than ten minutes without wanting to turn around and leave. But after reading lessons on waiting, such as "God's Waiting Room" I asked my Beloved to help me become patient, to wait on Him, and to understand that there is a purpose in waiting for Him to act in our situations. I also asked Him to help me trust that even when I cannot see anything with my human eyes, He is still working.
He has been faithful to help me llook for the blessings even while I wait. He has shown me that waiting does not mean I have to take back what I have already surrendered to Him. Instead, it means trusting Him completely with everything I have placed into His loving hands.
If you are carrying a burden today, whatever it may be, I want to encourage you not to keep trying to carry it on your own. Our Beloved Lord is lovingly inviting us to place it into His hands. He never intended for us to carry these burdens by ourself.
I also want to encourage you to not be tempted to take whatever you gave to Him back because you cannot yet see Him working. Instead, choose to trust Him, rest in His promises, and allow Him to work in His perfect timing. I can testify from my own journey, especially my Custody Loss, that when we surrender everything to Him and leave it in His hands, He replaces our weariness with His peace, our anxiety with His rest, and our striving with quiet confidence in His unfailing love.
Footnotes:
¹ Psalm 55:22
² 1 Peter 5:7
³ Matthew 11:28-30
⁴ Psalms 37:7