Blessed Assurance
How to release your burden
Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to me all you are weary and burdened 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."
A burden is the heaviness of the heart, soul and spirit. It's something that you might have done or it could be a natural thing that has happened. Not all burdens are bad. A burden can be God-given, it could be a divine message from God. It could be a warning.
Guilt is also a heavy burden it affects our thinking, it affects us spiritually and physiologically. Guilt is a destructive burden, a deceptive burden, a destroyer of one's self and a destroyer of relationship. We must not focus on guilt, we must focus on how God has blessed us. We must let God handle our burdens.
'Come to me' this connotes an invitation and this invitation is ALL INCLUSIVE/UNIVERSAL -- this is for all. We must let God deal with our burdens. Living with sin is a horrible burden, destructive and if we are living with guilt, don't. Matthew 11:28-30 speaks about a God who is full of love. His invitation is motivated by love. This is how God operates. Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 68:19 "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior who daily bears our burdens." He bears it, we don't have to. He daily cares about what is going on with our lives. That should be our motivation, why we go to Him, His love. Everybody got something they need to deal with. Financial burdens, health, emotional and uncertainty. All these we need to give to the Lord.
'I'll give you rest' You don't have to deserve it, He'll give it anyway. God will give us the ability to have peace, confidence of mind. God will enable you to live with it without bearing the weight. You'll be able to talk about it. He may not remove the whole burden, because He wants you to see how great a God He is. He provides daily.
The problem is whenever we are heavily laden we go to God, yes, but we don't give it to Him, instead we discuss it with Him. You still find the solution by yourself.
You see when God said 'Come to me' God has instructions for us: 'Take my yoke upon you" a yoke is a wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox. The driver controls this harness. This implies that you surrender your will to Him. Submission, He wants to be the driver of your life. He wants you to come into a relationship with Him. If you surrender, He'll take the anxiety, the pain, the tears, the grief, the guilt.
'Learn from me' is a process. It's not easy to submit, to surrender but God wants us to give it all to Him. He is in the business of remaking people, transforming them. He doesn't take your burden without taking you. Implied here is Trust. Trust Him, He loves for you to come. If you don't trust Him, then you can't go to Him. Leave your burden with God, lay it down. Why? Because of WHAT HE IS; because HE HAS THE POWER; because HE SAID SO. You may have the burden but now you can sing, dance and talk because the weight is not there anymore.
May you believe the simple truths of God. May these be your prayer today: I come to Him; I lay it all out to Him; I trust Him; I surrender to Him.