Got Any Burdens?

What is a burden?  I looked it up to see the actual definition.   It simply means “a load, typically a heavy one.”

You’ve heard the phrase “Work load?”   It could easily be referred to as a “work burden” by definition, but that seems a bit negative.  But by definition it's simply true.  We each have a work burden and sometimes it is heavier and sometimes it’s lighter depending on the time of year or the situations around us. 

We also have family loads — and I’m not referring just to laundry (although when we were building our family I probably should have thought through that a little bit more than I did since I hate laundry.  There was a season that we did seven loads every single day. Ick!)   But our family burdens go in cycles as well.  There are times when the load is heavy, and times when it is lighter.

What other loads do you carry?  Do you have responsibilities at church?  Are you a volunteer somewhere?  Do you have responsibilities in your neighborhood?  

When our loads become heavy, we start to see them as burdens.  And while load is a neutral word, burden isn’t so much.

So what happens when our loads get heavy and become burdens in our minds?   From a practical standpoint it may be time to decide that some stuff has to go.  It’s OK to say no and to start lightening your load so that it doesn’t become a burden too heavy to bear.

The answer I offer today, once your load is as light as your life allows it to be,  is to simply find times to rest…. to allow God to renew your spirits and replenish your strength.   In Isaiah we are told that if we will wait upon the Lord our strength will be renewed and we will mount up with wings like eagles.    

Find time for some quiet moments with God to simply be, listen, and receive strength can change our perspective what seem like heavy burdens can become bearable loads once again.