Casting Your Burden

I used to think I was pretty good at “casting my burden on the Lord.” How often we have read that familiar scripture. “Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (Ps. 55:22). I’m not a worrier by nature. It’s just not how I’m wired.

Sometimes I’m afraid I’ve been a little smug about that – maybe felt a bit more spiritual than others who struggle with a mind that replays anxieties. But I’m not sure casting one’s burden is simply about not worrying.

I’ve come to realize recently through the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit, that one reason I don’t worry much is that I usually have a backup plan. I’m a solver. I tend to think pretty logically. So, when a problem confronts me, I work to figure it out. I come up with ways I can make things OK. The key word here is “I”.

Of course I pray about it, but usually I’ve got the proverbial “ace in the hole” idea just in case. But what happens when there is nothing I can do? Can I still cast my burden on the Lord? Are there times when I have short-circuited the sustaining power of God because I already had everything figured out “for Him”?

Of course I believe that God gave us brains and expects us to use them! No, we shouldn’t just stumble along foolishly and expect God to somehow magically do for us what He has fully equipped us to do for ourselves.

However, I also know that God loves to show Himself strong in our lives. We aren’t wise enough or strong enough or resilient enough to sail along without Him! He wants us to want Him, to acknowledge our neediness, to recognize our massive limitations. We have access to a limitless God, one who is all wise and all powerful, one who has the resources of the entire universe at His fingertips.

Why don’t I allow Him to sustain me more often? Why do I keep my cares and burdens to myself and utilize my little “plans” instead of hurling them into His infinite safety net. Self-sufficiency shouldn’t necessarily be worn as a badge of honor.

Sometimes it’s more like a dunce cap. How foolish to scrape by on my meager rations when the God of abundance simply waits for me to ask.

Father, teach me to cast my burden on you, to walk in freedom because of your sufficiency. Make Your name great in and through me as you supply my needs today.