“Come to me, all you who 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.” Matthew 11:28 & 29

Are you borrowing trouble?

I often would ask my kids this question when they would come to me all worried and afraid about something they thought might happen tomorrow or in the coming weeks. I’m sure they rolled their eyes a few times when the first thing out of my mouth was, “stop borrowing trouble.”

It is so easy to worry, and during this time of uncertainty, it would seem that we have many things to worry about. So much of our population is out of work and concerned about their resources. Others are afraid for sick family members or friends. There is much conflicting information on how to stay safe and healthy, and we all wonder if we will ever get back to what we thought of as normal.

Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

Corrie Ten Boom

I wonder many of the same things, as I was furloughed from my job weeks ago and have friends and family facing the same thing. But even if we were not experiencing the consequences of this crazy virus, the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, tells us that “each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Often, we begin to worry about all sorts of stuff that is out of our control or may never even actually happen. When we stop ourselves from focusing on the “what ifs” that we have no control over, then we can look at our circumstances with confidence in God’s ability to handle whatever may arise in the future.

Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

I know I could use all the strength that is available to me each given day.

Proverbs 12:25 reminds us that “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”  The good word for us today is that Jesus wants us to let him take our burdens for us.

He offers us a way to let go of the things weighing us down. He said, “Come to me, all you who 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.” Matthew 11:28 & 29

I want rest for my soul, don’t you?

What is the key to finding this rest? And does our worry really go away when we focus on Jesus?

Jesus invites us to come to him—he gets that we are weary and have burdens that we are carrying around. I like to picture it this way—I’m standing before him with a backpack full of my burdens, as he holds out his hands to take it from me.

Several years ago, our church hosted a prayer retreat, and one experience was symbolically “laying our burdens down”. A suitcase filled with rocks was provided to serve as a physical reminder of what it is to lug that heavy load around with us. It is a cumbersome burden that weighs us down and can steal our joy. We were encouraged to go to the Lord in prayer and acknowledge our specific burdens and then leave them in Jesus’ capable hands, like 1 Peter 5:7 encourages us to, “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

In one of his books, Rick Warren said, “the more you pray, the less you’ll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You’ll feel more patient and less pressured.”

We have a choice: worship or worry… prayer or panic.

That makes me think of Phil 4:4-7, our antidote to worry.

It starts with praise… “rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice.” Begin with praising God for who he is and for his sovereign ability over all things. Thank him for your blessings & be specific. Nothing is too small to thank him for. Draw close to him during this time of praise & thanksgiving.

Next, move on to dealing with your anxious thoughts. Philippians 4:6 says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication (means to be humble in your prayers), with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”. Pray specifically about the things that are on your heart and mind. Take those rocks you’ve been carrying out one by one and lay them down at the feet of Jesus. Thank him that he is able to meet your needs. That he is powerful enough to take care of you in any given situation.

The gracious result is that after this, you can move on to replacing worry with God’s peace,  “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

That is what I wanted my kids to understand…. they had a choice to either continue to borrow trouble or to “Phil 4:6-7 it”. They could trust that God was there to take away their anxiety if they would just go to him and lay it all out. That they could enjoy peace rather than worrying about something that might never happen.

How about you? Are you ready to take off that heavy backpack you have been carrying around? No matter how long you have been trying to do this by yourself, you have a new opportunity to peel off those straps that are digging deeper in to your shoulders and weighing you down, and hand the whole bag over to the person who has the most capable hands. He is waiting.

Dear Lord Jesus, I come to you today and rejoice that you are able to do all things. You are mighty and worthy to be praised. I feel anxious about so many things today. Things that I have no control over. I don’t want to worry about it any longer. I thank you that you are more than capable of handling anything that I bring to you today.  I choose to place these fears and worries in your hands and let go of them. I am trusting that you are God and you are good! I thank you that you want to give me rest for my soul. Thank you for your peace which guards my heart and mind. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Two worship songs that really speak to my heart about the burdens we carry are “Come As You Are” by David Crowder and “Here” by Kari Jobe.

And if you ever wondered why laughter is so good for the soul, it’s because Jesus has a sense of humor…

After that prayer retreat, my husband helped pack all the props away and put the rock-laden suitcase in the back of his suburban. Overnight, someone broke into several vehicles in our neighborhood to see what they could steal. The only thing missing from our truck was the suitcase, which we found abandoned in the ditch just a little way down our road. Can you imagine what those thieves were thinking when they discovered that suitcase…they must have thought they had scored the mother lode! I would have given just about anything to have seen their faces when the burden was getting too heavy, and they opened that case to find…a bunch of rocks.

Here are some great verses to read and meditate on for when you feel worried or anxious:

Psalm 56:3; Psalm 121:1-2; Psalm 112:7;

Proverbs 3:5-6; Hebrews 13:6; Isaiah 43:1-3;

1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6-7; Colossians 3:15  

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