Burdens Are Lifted

"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation." - Psalm 91: 14-16

To say that I've been stressed out the last three weeks would be a gross understatement - maybe it would even win the understatement of the year award. As I've stated in posts before, when I get stressed out, I do either a few things: 1. Cry, 2. Get physically sick, 3. Cry and get physically sick, or 4. Explode. Right now, I'm on stage 3, and it's looking ugly. The combination of work and personal stress has created this quiet storm that's been forming inside that is about to wreck my life in more ways than I could ever expect or want to happen right now.

Stress seems to sit on me like a dead weight. You know when you're doing some form of heavy weight workout, such as bodybuilding, you try to go for the heavy weight that's just one step past what you can manage in order to build your strength and endurance. Stress is that weight that we place on our bodies over time that when it comes time to perform some heavy lifting in life, it makes it difficult to perform our duties effectively and efficiently.

The remarkable and amazing thing about God is that He doesn't expect us to carry these burdens around because He already knows that we can't even manage them alone. That brings up the question: "Well God, if you know I can't even handle this without You, why'd You let me have these troubles?!" 

Here's a few things to keep in mind:

1. If we were completely capable of handling and resolving all of our life's issues on our own, in our fleshly strength, what room would God have to work in our situations? - If we were capable of doing everything in our own strength, leaning to our own understanding, how could God's glory and strength be displayed, even through our weaknesses? Despite everything and despite the total deprivation of our spiritual condition, God demonstrated His love towards us (Romans 5:5-8; 12). We can't truly cast all our cares upon Him so He can handle and fight within our situations unless we humble ourselves before Him in reverence (1 Peter 5:6-7).

2. Trials and burdens produce an opportunity to have our faith and trust increased - Let me reiterate the point that we can't save ourselves. There's nothing good in us to bring us in right standing with God (Romans 3:10-18; 23). We're made right with God (meaning, there's no longer any beef between us and God), through God's grace demonstrated through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16). God gives us the faith to believe in Him for salvation and also the faith to believe that His Word is true and sufficient, allowing in time that through studying His Word we develop a deeper love for God.

The good thing about bodybuilding, or working out in general, is that when you're struggling to bear a particularly challenging weight, your spotter is there to lift the weight from you to prevent injury. However, in the midst of this, with consistent exercise you develop endurance. God alone can satisfy our heart's desires. Although the burden seems too much to bear at times, God knows exactly how much we can bear, and He is able and willing to deliver us in the midst of life's approaching storms.

Find refuge in Him.

SDG