“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-30 Msg.)
Do you feel overwhelmed by the needs around you? As a nation, we are in moral and financial crisis. Families continue to deteriorate, teenage suicide is on the rise, and mothers abandon their babies by the side of the road. In the past few months alone, thousands have lost their jobs, homes, and hope for the future. How can we possibly handle the increasing pressure coming upon the world?
The Enemy would have us running back and forth, burdened by the needs around us, weighed down by anxious thoughts. In a world careening toward destruction, God invites us to learn the unforced rhythms of grace. He gives us the gift of His peace, which transcends all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
In her book, Intercessors Arise, Debbie Przybylski illustrates this point with a story:
“A young girl was miserable because of all the burdens she was carrying. One fall a heavy snowstorm arrived while the leaves were still on the trees. The girls’ grandfather took her for a drive, showing her the trees heavy with snow. The branches of the elm trees were broken, but the pine trees were fine. He told her that there are two types of trees in the world: the foolish and the wise. An elm tree is rigid and quickly becomes weighed down with the burden of all that snow. Its limbs break under the weight. But the evergreen pine relaxes, lowers its branches, and lets the heavy weight of the snow drop right off. It remains unharmed. The girl’s grandfather told her, ‘Be like a pine tree.”
We, too, must be like the pine tree, releasing our burdens to the Lord in prayer, rather than allowing their heaviness to weigh us down. Jesus is the One sent by God to carry our burdens.
Won’t you give Him yours?
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