Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Anxiety and its offspring Depression has always been prominent in so many lives, and sadly, that remains true today. There are very few that have not experienced the deep dark valley when your life seems to be falling apart when tribulations emerge only to seem unending and unsolvable. You just lost your job, a loved one or a close friend has just passed away, there is not enough money to pay the bills, and the list goes on and on like the long sleepless nights that accompany this affliction. If we allow ourselves to dwell or focus on the past, we can see many failures; Satan will be more than happy to help you remember all the mistakes you may have made over the years. We have all made errors in judgment throughout our lives; sometimes, these may have been deliberate but often unintentional. We look back on the grief and heartache that our indiscretions may have caused others or even ourselves. When this hindsight occurs, we rob ourselves of the joy that Christ intends for us today and into the future (John 10:10).
Anxiety and depression will appear when we try to carry a load way too heavy for us to support; in our text today, Jesus gives us the answer, “Take my yoke, and you will find rest for your souls.” We as Christians know that all we have to do is carry it to the Lord in prayer and He will either carry our burdens or carry us. It’s like the “Footprints in the Sand” poster, there were only one set of footprints; the question was, “why Lord did you forsake me? I only see one set of footprints,” the Lord answers, “yes, my child, the one set of footprints were mine because I was carrying you.” Unfortunately, people often take their burdens to the Lord and try to solve the issue themselves.
There are two significant glitches with this scenario; first, there is a strong possibility that trying to work things out after turning it over to the Lord will get in His way. Second, when this happens, there will be a delay in the resolution you seek, not because God is delaying but because you are causing unnecessary roadblocks that God must remove before He can set His plan in motion.
The second problem that will arise when you try to assist the Savior is you are saying to Him, “Lord, I know you can solve all problems, but mine is just too much for you to handle, so I’ll just have to give you a hand.” Peter reminds us in his writings that we should cast all of our anxieties upon the Lord, not just a few of them, and then try to solve the rest on our own (1 Peter 5:7). There is also the “what if” problem, what if this happens, or what if that happens. If you allow yourself to be snared in Satan’s “what if” trap, you will lose the peace and joy that is yours through Christ Jesus.
The Bible makes it very clear that although God spoke to His children through the prophets in the past, today, He speaks to us through His Holy Word. Every time you open the Bible, God has a special message for you. You may have read a particular passage of scripture many times before, but each time you read it, He will have a new message for you (Hebrews 1:1-2; John 1:1). When you go to God and ask Him to take your burdens, He will do just that. To receive the answer, you need to lighten the load you carry, get back to the full life He has promised you, and live a victorious life of peace and joy; you must spend time in his Word. Spend time every day speaking to God, then immerse yourself in His Word, and he will reveal the answer to you. On the flip side, if you do not have a daily prayer and bible study, you will be left to your flimsy attempts to remove the burdens that weigh you down. This lack of daily prayer can sometimes cause a person to panic and then lose hope, thereby causing a state of depression. There is a big difference between worldly and Godly hope; worldly hope is “I hope I can find some peace someday,” Godly hope is a solid promise we have from our precious Lord and Savior that He will carry our burdens. Then we will have a full life of victory with the peace and joy we so rightly deserve. Jesus is the hope of the world (1 Timothy 1:1).
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