“I cannot carry this anymore, Bob,” said a reader who phoned me.
Her voice sounded tired. Not the tiredness that disappears after eight hours of sleep, but the tiredness that enters the heart and quietly unpacks its suitcase.
“What are you carrying?” I asked.
She told me.
It was quite a load. Family problems, financial worries, illness, loneliness and the fear that tomorrow might arrive carrying an even larger parcel.
“Can God really help me?” she asked.
This morning, I want to show her and all who ask that question the powerful words of Psalm 81, verse 6:
“I removed the burden from their shoulders.”
Read that again.
God does not merely stand beside you and offer advice on improving your lifting technique. He does not say, “Bend your knees, straighten your back and try harder.”
He removes the burden from your shoulders.
Can you imagine those divine hands reaching down and lifting the very load that has been crushing you?
It may not mean the problem disappears immediately. The hospital report may remain. The unpaid bill may still be on the table. The difficult person may still be in the next room, possibly practising how to become even more difficult.
But the weight no longer has to be carried by you alone.
Someone with shoulders far broader than yours has taken it.
Then comes Psalm 55, verse 22:
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.”
The word is “cast.”
It does not say place your burden politely before God, then pick it up again five minutes later to check whether He is handling it properly.
To cast means to throw.
Throw the fear. Throw the anxiety. Throw the anger. Throw the problem you have examined from every angle until the problem knows you better than your family does.
Throw it towards God and walk away.
Moses also reached breaking point. In Numbers 11, verse 14, he cried out, “I cannot carry all these people by myself. The burden is too heavy for me.”
God did not rebuke Moses for weakness. He provided others to share the burden.
Sometimes God carries our load through people. A friend arrives. A doctor helps. A stranger listens. A door opens. Heaven often sends help wearing ordinary clothes.
So, dear reader, stop behaving as if the entire universe rests on your shoulders. It does not.
You were never created to carry every sorrow alone.
Remove your shoulder from beneath that load. Cast it upon the One who asks for it.
Then straighten your back, breathe deeply and walk forward.
The burden may still exist.
But it is no longer yours to carry alone.
And oh how light you’ll feel..!
The Author conducts an online, eight session Writers and Speakers Course. If you’d like to join, do send a thumbs-up to WhatsApp number 9892572883 or send a message to bobsbanter@gmail.com
