Casting Our Burdens

UV 1197/10,000 Casting Our Burdens

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 55 v 22

We should not allow our hearts and minds to be vexed or troubled. The illustration is given that a person can hold a glass of water for a few minutes but when he holds it continually for several hours it becomes a huge burden. Similarly, the mind and our lives get burdened if we are thinking or are upset about something over a long period of time. The size of the burden does not count. It could be something tiny that is irking us or it could be something too big and intimidating for us to handle. We should not hesitate to take it to the Lord as soon as possible with prayer, thanksgiving and confidence. He will then restore the peace of God that passes all rational understanding. He will strengthen us from within so that we can endure it. He will give us wisdom and understanding on how best to resolve it. He will encourage us so that we no longer think of it as a burden. He will enable us to recognize the purpose or reason why the particular trouble arose in our lives.


IF we do not unload our difficulties and problems on the Lord, we will be weighed down and we will become depressed and ineffective which is the goal of the enemy of our souls. When we unburden ourselves on the Lord, He will give us the grace to carry on. He is competent to handle any of the most complex or difficult issues we bring to Him. If we do not take it to Him, it would show we do not have faith that He listens to us or that we do not think that He is capable of solving it. There are certain burdens we cannot share even with the best of our friends or even our spouse. But we can freely share it with the Lord. The moment we pray about our burdens we will feel a lightening of our load, a freedom in the spirit, a new sense of hope, courage and optimism. When we pray for each other’ s problems, we are obeying the command of the Lord to carry one another’s burdens.

The Lord does not want the believers to be moved with grief or to be weighed down with worry and anxiety. He wants our hearts and minds to be focussed on Him and the Kingdom of God. He knows that we cannot worship Him with a free mind and spirit if we are burdened. He wants our hearts and minds to be anchored in Him even in the midst of a storm. The words “ cast down” implies to act suddenly and forcefully. The best time to cast it down is at the earliest point in time. The Lord does not want us to loose quality time. Someone might think that if the Lord is omniscient, He knows our challenges and problems and hence, there is no need to take it to the Lord in prayer. But the Lord wants us to take the initiative and manifest our faith in Him in specifically casting down every burden before Him every day of our lives. Once we leave it at His feet, He will either show us a way out of our predicament or He will miraculously resolve it or He will give us the grace to persevere and endure it. The Lord wants to show us He is real and He is involved in our daily struggles, that He is our sustainer, keeper, friend and guide and this is the reason He invites us to daily cast our burdens on Him. Each burden we cast at His feet becomes a testimony, an opportunity to enhance our faith and to praise the Lord for the deliverance He gives us.

Prateep V Philip