Let It Go!

Let It Go!

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalms 55:22 KJV

In his earlier psalms, David was the all-conquering prayer warrior, asking God to destroy all those who came against him for the wrong reasons. He made claims to being right, and sought God to deal with his enemies based on his own goodness. You would see words such as 'according to the cleanness of my hands' and 'according to my righteousness'. In later years however, David came to learn that man does not come to be accepted by God first with his own righteousness, but with the mercy, grace and righteousness that only God can supply. We stand by grace alone, and by that grace, our actions are guided and accepted in light of that same grace. 

David had learnt a lesson here, and the fundamental basis is this: I can't help myself become all that God wants for me. I can only depend on God and trust Him to work out His perfect will in me. If I am wise in my own eyes, I won't need God or ask Him for help. However, it is clear that on my own, I will struggle and fail miserably. I need the help of the true burden-bearer to draw near to God, and take hold of the grace He has made available. So, how do I do it? 

First, the instruction is to 'cast'. An interesting definition is 'to throw something forcefully'. The only way I can explain this is to look at the alternative. I am not asked to negotiate with the devil about the burden, or to come to God with bribes and palliatives to get Him to see your point of view. I am asked to throw all my burdens forcefully on Him. It is a weight off my back and on to Him. 

Second, it is not a casting on to another man like myself, who probably has his own burdens to sort out. We lay our burdens on others, and get angry and depressed when they can't help. We forget that no man was created to bear the burdens that only God can carry. We all have ours, and by the law of Christ, I am to help bear your burdens. It will be wrong for me to take up what I was not gifted or empowered to do. Give the burdens to the One who has asked to take them up. I am asked to cast my burdens upon the Lord, whose arms are referred to as the everlasting arms. He is the One called our refuge, strength, and an ever-present help in times of trouble. 

Third, it is not meant to be a temporary arrangement, where you throw the burdens on God, then after a season, you go back and pick them up again. Whatever it is that I have handed over to God, I must learn to leave it with Him. I kneel down and pray, and as soon as I get up, I pick up all the anxiety and worry. Why did I bother bringing the burdens in the first place, if I was not going to trust God with them? Why devote time to prayer if I can't trust the One I have just spent time praying to? 

Fourth, and this is the hard part: you get to exchange the burden you cannot carry for the one that God can and will help you bear. When you read the words: 'and He will sustain you', what does it mean to you? I look up the definition of 'sustain' and I see: 'to strengthen or support physically or mentally' and for this purpose, I add 'spiritually'. You don't get to walk away with no measure of responsibility or accountability. You take on an assignment that only the grace of God can help you fulfil. You are given a burden by God for a walk with God and a work for God that are eternal in scope and effect and only the One who births that burden can sustain both you and the burden. This is a good burden, where you come to experience God in a personal way, and the souls of men are impacted and preserved for eternity.

Lastly, if I am to stand, it cannot be by the righteousness of my own hands alone. It has been proved already that on my own, and by myself, I cannot make it. David tried it, and by the time the devil had manipulated just one event on the rooftop of his palace, David had committed adultery, murder and lied all in the space of a few days. When I stand in God's righteousness, I stand in and I'm sustained by God's grace. Of course, the one God sustains cannot be shaken. Storms will come and winds will blow, but when it is God holding you up, just a word from Him is enough to calm all storms. So, who is holding you up? Whose burden are you bearing? I ask myself the same questions too. If it is not that which God has birthed and handed over to you, please let it go. You gain nothing by taking on what does not belong to you, or what God has already asked you to hand over to Him. Let it all go, and take on that which will speak into eternity. Give up that which you should not bear, and take on that which you cannot do without. His time of favour is here.