Praise the Lord, David said, noting that God is the the One who saves us, bears our burdens, and carries us daily.
Strong reasons to praise the God of our salvation. Strong reasons.
Uh-oh, you’re not feeling that burden-bearing? You don’t feel like He’s carrying you? Man! That’s hard, and I know it hurts. You feel like you’re the one God has forgotten, laid aside, and left behind.
Thing is, God hasn’t done any of those. God can’t lie. If He did, He would be sinning, and there is zero sin in God. So these words are utterly true about the Almighty. He has NOT forgotten you, laid you aside, or left you behind.
Well, why don’t you feel Him lifting your burdens or carrying you, you ask?
I don’t have that answer, I’m sorry. I can, however, posit some possibilities.
There’s always the sin-separates-us-from-God thing. The solution is to do as David did in Psalms 51: seek God, asking Him to reveal any sin in your life so that you can confess it and repent (turn away from it). God promises in 1 John 1:9 that He will forgive those sins and clean you up to the state of being able to enter His presence again.
Could it be that you’re holding God at arms’ length believing that you’ve got this, you’ll handle whatever burden you have?
Is it possible that God has been carrying you as much as you let Him, then you hop out of His hand, picking up your burden and walking away?
My friend, He won’t hold us so tightly we can’t move. He holds us safely, nothing and no one able to take us from His hand, yet He does so with an open palm, giving us the choice to stay or go. No. I am not talking about salvation here. I’m talking about this understanding that God is bearing our burdens and carrying us.
Often when we don’t feel like God is holding us up, it’s because we have chosen a different god. Anyone or anything we choose over YHWH is a god to us. Even us.
Look where you are. Are you in His hands, allowing Him to be God in your life or are you standing outside His hands, choosing to do it all or even partially yourself, making you god of your life?
Make the change today! This moment! Agree with God that you’ve made something else god of your life and that that is wrong. Ask Him for His forgiveness. Do this from a repentant heart determined to not do it again. He’s waiting. Practically speaking, as the habit of picking up your burdens kicks in, you have to intentionally deny it. Even say it aloud, “I’m not picking up that __. That’s God’s to carry, not mine.” Sit down in His hand. Rest there. Trust that He is holding you safe and secure and will carry you through all that seeks to destroy you.
Oh, one other thing: you’ll probably have to do this every day. At least for a while until it’s ingrained in your heart and soul.
Let’s let go of control of us and start praising the One Who really has it. Praise the Lord!
One last thing I almost forgot. When you see the word selah, do you wonder what it means? Yeah, me, too. It’s an instruction to pause and calmly think about what was just said. Hmm… need I say more?
