Feeling Weighed Down? Give Your Cares to Him!

My children always loved collecting rocks from the area we vacationed. Every once in a while I’ll find a small pebble or a couple of rocks in a box. There’s a big collection that our son saved in a box out in the shop and it is heavy.  I guess you could call them memory stones.  I was cleaning out my car last week and found another rock – it looks like the grandkids now want to collect them. 

We gather memory rocks don’t we? Not all the stones are from pleasant places.  Some are picked up along with hurts, discouragement or sorrow.  Some are thrown at us.  We catch each one and keep them so that we don’t forget who hurt us.  The  unkind word, the impatient response, the indifferent or ignoring disregard from those we trusted.  We go home and empty our pockets of the stones and think we’re done with it.  We place them away in the closet of our heart. But let another hurtful word or an unkind gesture come our way and out comes our collection. We add to and look it all over and it becomes oh so heavy.

We cannot avoid hurts. We cannot control how others treat us, how we might be ignored or undervalued or overlooked.  We may want the best in a relationship and yet the other party wants nothing to do with us. People walk away, lie about your life and wipe their hands of us. If we gather each hurtful or hard memory up in a collection, pretty soon we’re harboring a heavy load.  We could become so enthralled with our collection that’s all we concentrate on.

But if we give those stones of remembrance to the Lord and ask Him to help us, He will lessen the hurt and take our burden from us. We were never meant to carry this load. It’s heavy and weighs us down. If unchecked, it will actually sideline us and keep us from moving forward.  God in His mercy will turn that pile of hurts, disappointments, unforgiveness, or rejection into an altar of love. If we turn those stones over in our hearts and give them to Him, the burden will be lifted as we forgive and move on. Our hearts feel better, our load is lighter and we’re filled with His mercy to go higher with Him.

Oh beloved, God loves you! He has a wonderful plan for you life! He says to discard the rocks and follow Him! His plan is oh so sweet and His desire is oh so outrageous for you! He will carry you higher than you’ve ever been and the view from the heights of His mercy and love is beautiful! Run to Him this morning and show Him your burdens, share the truth about each memory stone and let Him heal your hurts!  He loves you so much that He will discard them for you and walk with you all the days of your life! Hurts may still come, but you won’t have to load yourself down for God walks before you and His angels surround you. What an amazing Savior!

Psalm 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

I Peter 5:7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.