A few days ago I wrote this blog post where I was just REALLY convicted by a friend: I was operating under a spirit of fear, not trust in a sovereign God.
A day or two after that, I found a reading plan on fear on YouVersion. In the first couple days, this was the verse:
Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
(Psalm 55:22)
When I read that, I saw a picture in my mind:
I saw myself walking with Josiah (my studly, friendly giant of a husband) up a hill in the dark. I was asking him to help me, but I insisted on carrying a bunch of heavy boxes by myself. I couldn't see over the boxes and I kept tripping and falling. He wanted to carry them, but I was stubborn and wanted to do it myself.
Then, I saw how the picture changed when I gave the boxes over to Josiah. He could carry them easily with one hand, and help guide me through the dark with the other.
Now, the difference here is, Josiah doesn't necessarily know the way, and his strength has its limits. But guess whose doesn't?! MY GOD!
Everything just became so startling clear. By carrying my fears, worries, and anxieties around, I am impeding my own progress!
Later, I was talking to my sweet sis-in-love, Jamie, about this and she asked me the best question ever. She said, I'm not trying to be funny, but we, as Christians, always say, "just give your burdens to God," but what do you think that really looks like in our Christian walk?
She's right. We say these things sometimes, just quoting away, and we haven't really thought out completely what it LOOKS like in our lives. I could probably write multiple blog posts JUST on that: what the Scriptures actually look like when we walk them out (and I might!).
So when she asked me, I really paused to think about it...what DOES it look like to give all our burdens to God.
While thinking about it, God brought this scripture to mind:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -
his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
WOW!
I know this is a fairly common scripture to a lot of y'all, so I'm gonna break down how I see this as it applies to this topic.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world...
In our society, we wear business and worry like badges of honor, and apparently, I've made myself the self-proclaimed queen of that world, because I've been a SUPER busy worrier. But that's not what God wants. He doesn't want us to be busy worriers...He wants peaceful warriors. It's almost like, if we're really busy and worried, we add to our significance in this life, but that is such a hopeless perspective. As Christians, we should set our minds above the worries of this world!
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
This is SO unbelievably important! Our thoughts create pathways in our minds that get deeper and deeper based upon how frequent the thoughts are and the emotions we attach to them. So, if we're spending tons of time worrying, we're literally creating negative pathways in our brains that we will begin to traverse more and more often.
Giving our burdens to God means renewing our minds...continuously.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Do you see where this is going??? Only AFTER we renew our minds, are we able to properly see the perfect will of God in our lives!!
Mind. Blown.
So, what does it look like in the Christian walk? Exactly what Paul said: take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Do you see where this is leading? We can't just hand a burden over to God once? We have to do it continually. We have to lean on God continuously...always thanking Him...praying without ceasing.
It all walks hand in hand.
Today, tomorrow, this week...as you walk through your days, try to be mindful of your thoughts. Whenever worry and anxiety creep in, RIGHT AWAY, pray. Ask God to help you hand it over.
And then...the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).
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