I have to park my car two blocks away from my apartment. This isn’t too bad until I go shopping. Carrying groceries from my parked car to my apartment is almost impossible. During the last couple of grocery days I’ve completely given up. I used an app to get front door grocery drop off. I’m way less stressed! Giving up on grocery bags can apply to your life on a larger scale.
Just like my grocery and parking situation, some of us are carrying burdens we don’t need to be carrying. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you”. And in the New Testament, 1 Peter 5:7 says cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. What large grocery bags are you trying to walk down the block of life with? Kids, bills, school, marriage. I am there too! And with COVID-19 plus the political climate right now, we are all tired!
A few months after moving into this apartment with no parking, I set up a prayer wall in our hall way. It’s been the best therapy for me to write down burdens as prayers and pin it to the bulletin board in the hall way. During this season we not only are carrying our own burdens and anxieties, but we are also carrying other’s burdens. I don’t know about you, but when a friend tells me she had a miscarriage, a family member is sick, or someone in my circle lost their job… I catch myself carrying that burden. On a bigger scale, I’ve found myself carrying the weight of the political conflict. I’ve found myself carrying the pain of those who are really hurting from the racial issues in our country right now. There’s so many burdens we can pick up and carry right now. Having a physical reminder of writing a burden into a prayer and pinning it up on a bulletin board has been helping me lay it down at the Lord’s feet. I have to have the faith that He will sustain me.
Here’s the thing about prayer: we may not see all of the relief at once. The burden might not feel light right away, but slowly we will see a difference in our life when we daily lay down our burdens before the Lord. The burdens of friends and family on top of our own life burdens will feel easier. The other beautiful thing about laying down our anxieties into a prayer — you get to see God show up, take your grocery bag, and take care of the thing! Consequently, your faith will grow! Unlike a grocery app there’s no extra price. Lay those burdens down, my friend, because God cares for YOU.
