Surrender

As we remodeled our current house to get it ready to sell we did a lot of packing and a LOT of moving furniture. And many times as we prepared to pick up a piece of heavy furniture, my husband (who is 6 feet tall and 250+ lbs and way larger than I am at 5ft 2ish) would give me a little pep talk because I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to lift and carry my side of the load. I would usually start saying things like…."I don’t know if I can carry this. I don’t think I can carry this. What if I drop my side? What if I throw my back out?" And because he’s incredibly patient and awesome (and was probably tired of listening to my worries and concerns), he came up with some things to help me. He purchased some moving straps (they are awesome!) and a flat dolly to stick under my side of the furniture. He would often carry the heavier part of the load and sometimes place a chair so that I could set the furniture down on it when I needed to rest for a minute. These were all things he put in place to support me, to help me, to keep me from harm. But he only did those things because I shared my fears with him and was willing and open to accept his help.

I think that’s how God is with us- He is there, always- ready to take on the many burdens we have on our shoulders. He’s there ready and willing to help it’s just that we just have to turn to Him because we aren’t meant to carry those burdens alone. We must deliberately place them on God’s shoulders and share our burdens- all of them- with Him. Sometimes I think we don’t feel God is with us, because we simply haven’t reached Him to help us, we simply don’t surrender to Him. Sometimes it’s out of pride, sometimes out of fear, and sometimes out of ignorance- but no matter the cause, we just don’t go to Him and share our burdens with Him. We just keeping trying to operate in our strength, are overwhelmed and fail, miserably. 

He reminds us of this many times in the bible including in Psalm 55:22-23 which says…

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. NIV

Today if your burdens feel too heavy to bear, my prayer is that you are reminded that God is there, ready to help you carry them. I pray that if you are feeling overwhelmed today, that you pour out your heart in prayer to our Heavenly Father —holding absolutely nothing back. Lean on and into Him. Surrender to Him. And that when you feel that burden lightening even the slightest bit, that you remember to thank Him for His goodness and His faithfulness. He’s there waiting to help you. Lean on and into Him. Surrender.