How long is too long to carry your burdens?
Often during the night, I will awake with something on my mind that I have not done and need to do. This is not something new to me. I have done this throughout my newspaper career and now that I am retired, supposedly taking life easy, I continue, on occasions, to let my stress bother me.
I read a good bit and study the Word of God about stress and how to let it go. Over the years as I grew in my faith and my confidence became stronger in what God was telling me to do, I have learned to let go of things I have no control over.
I have often heard the story of a man that would touch a tree limb in his front yard when he came home from work. One day someone observed what he was doing and ask him why he did this. His answer was tremendous and made great sense. He said, “When I get home, I hang all my problems of the day from work and other entities on that limb. This way I do not take my problems home with me and cause my family heartaches over what I went through during the day. The next morning, I take them back off the tree limb and work on solving the issues without creating problems or hurt to myself, family or friends.”
In Proverbs 12:25 we are told, “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.”
Recently I read where a young lady doing a seminar on stress management gave a great example of how we handle our problems or burdens. She was in front of her class and held up a glass of water. Most in the audience was expecting the same old question, “Is the glass half empty or half full?”
She surprised everyone when she said, “How much does the glass of water weigh?” Her analogy using this glass of water was one of the best examples I have heard. She said, “If I hold the glass of water for a few minutes this will not be a problem. However, if I hold this glass of water for an hour, my arm will ache. If I hold this glass of water for a day, then I am in trouble because it will wear me down and I will be not be able to tolerate it very well. She ended saying the glass of water weighed the same at any time, but how long she held it was a problem.
She then told that this is how it is when we carry our problems or burdens with us or inside us, then we will not be able to carry on. They eat at us until we become distraught or sick. It affects us mentally and physically and when this happens it effects the people around us and most of all, the ones we love the most.
For those of us that know Jesus, know that we have a place to lay our burdens down. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest.” It took me a long time to realize this old world is only temporary and any troubles or anxieties that I experience will go away. I learned that if I would hang my problems on the tree limb before I go home or really go anywhere, they would be there for me to come back to with possible solutions. Taking them to Jesus and talking with Him about them gives me comfort and assurance that these are only temporary and the world we are living in is not our everlasting home.
What about you? Do you know Jesus personally? If not, call on Him today and He will come to you and heal your heart.
Prayer: Thank you Jesus for your love and understanding that I am an imperfect human being with many problems. Thank you for your comfort you give me. Amen.
