There are a few meanings of the word “burden” found in the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia. The three meanings I have listed this morning are “something to be borne”, “something heavy” and “to bear a load.”

Zondervan’s Compact Bible dictionary defines burden as that which is laid upon one in order to be carried. When it is literally used, it is used in the sense of responsibility.

Collin’s Dictionary defines burden as something that is carried, a load. Something that is exacting, oppressive or difficult to bear (onerous). Something that weighs a person down, something that oppresses.

From the above meaning, the word “burden” portrays a picture of something heavy, making rigorous and excessive demands. The Lord’s people are often heavy laden, their burdens pressing and their grief oppressing as they go through life in this world ruled by Satan. The problems that they face are real. They can be insurmountable at times and they can be too much for a person to bear. But, the Lord graciously and kindly invites all His children to cast every burden upon Him. The Lord promises to sustain them.

It is human nature that when one faces a problem, be it big or small, man’s natural tendency is to seek fellow man for advice and for comfort. In times of need or difficulty the un-regenerated man relies on others of the same kind for assurance. How about the regenerated man? It is sad but true to say that quite often the regenerated man also depends on his fellow man for assurance, advice and comfort.

When trouble confronts the child of God, at times, the child of God seems to lose his (is used to denote both sexes) focus as well. Many a time the child of God’s first port of call is on fellow man instead of his Creator. In his anxiety he forgets the Almighty God who is not only his Creator, but also his Provider and his Preserver. When a child of God goes to fellow man first instead of seeking the all powerful God, this act in itself dishonours God. It shows his lack of faith and trust in a God who has promised to deliver in times of trouble. Is our God’s hand shortened that He cannot help us? Why not seek Him first and lay our cares and burdens upon Him. Why seek man?

Who is man? After all, he is only a created being with finite wisdom. Remember Job when he was undergoing intense suffering (which incidentally was permitted by God)? Job’s three friends were with him to give him advice and to comfort him. Their intensions were good. They thought they could comfort Job by their reasoning. Their physical presence perhaps was a comfort to Job, but not their advice.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are heavy laden, the Lord invites you to call upon Him. God desires to know your problems. God desires to hear your prayers and most of all God desires to see you through your cares and worries. God desires to have His name exalted as a God who cares for His people and rescues His people.

Psalm 50:15 reads, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” This commandment is very explicit. The Lord has made it very clear to His children that we are to turn to Him and no one else when we are facing problems and His promise is that He will deliver us. What a promise from our all mighty God. So, what do we, God’s children, have to fear even when we are heavy laden? Our God is a faithful God and He will fulfil His promises. Hebrews 10:23 admonishes us to, “{Let}us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”

Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” This is another of God’s many great promises. God assures the prophet Jeremiah that he has only to ask and God is ready to answer. God knows His children. God knows when they are in trouble. God knows when they need Him. God knows our very need before we even open our mouths to lay them before Him. “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him,” (Psalm 145:18a). “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer.” Isaiah 58:9a.

Another gracious invitation of Jesus to all His children is found in the gospel of Matthew chapter 11:28 & 29. “Come unto me, all ye labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Jesus’ gracious invitations come to all “that labour and are heavy laden” with the troubles of lives and the sins of their own human nature. By coming to Jesus and obeying His directions, Jesus will free us from our insurmountable burdens and He promises to give us rest, peace and the Holy Spirit will lead us through life. And if we obey Him and do as He has instructed us, those trials and cares we carry will be borne with His help and grace, for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has instructed that, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a). He will also give us the rest and peace which we so much seek after. 

Once again, I would like to reiterate: why turn to man when we can rely upon the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God? As children of God, we are reminded yet again to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to keep in time of need” (Hebrews 6:14).

As long as we are living in this world, we as God’s children will have problems. Many of you will agree with me that this is the last of the last days and Satan’s time in this world is also limited. Where God’s children are busy evangelising and bringing more souls to Christ, Satan is also very active in destroying souls.

If we are active in the work of God, Satan and his followers are also active in undoing what God’s children have done. You can be sure that our problems will be insurmountable for we are not struggling against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12).

Our God does not only tell us who our foe is, but God also ascribes to us how to do battle with the ruler of this world. The epistle to the Ephesians chapter 6:13-18 contains a list of weapons that God has equipped us to fight our foes who not only destroy the body but also the soul.

Can a fellow man do the same thing for us? If you are at the moment going through a very difficult time, the first person you should seek out and lay your burden upon is the ever powerful, faithful and immutable God. His gracious invitation is for all His children. He is waiting for you to call on Him. He knows what you are going through for our Lord is troubled with the feeling of our infirmities. Do not dishonour God. Always go to Him first and He has promised as it is written in Psalm 50:15, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”

God invites us to cast our burdens and cares upon Him. He then bears the weight of them with us and sustains us in every situation. Our God has determined that we should wait upon Him, be wholly dependent upon Him, and glory only in Him. Believer, He will sustain you by speaking peace to your troubled heart; by enabling you to leave your perplexing problems in His hands; and by enabling you to endure the present with hope in Him. Let us always learn to bring every burden to His feet and to cast very care upon Him. 

To cast our burden upon God is to rest upon His providence and promise. God will never suffer the righteous to be moved, to be shaken by any troubles. He will not suffer us to be cast down. He desires us to leave Him to bear the burden as He knows what is best for us.

Isaiah 26:4 exhorts us to, “trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JE-HO-VAH is everlasting strength.” We are often discouraged and cast down when we are heavy laden. Why is it so even though we claim to be children of the Almighty God? Because we dwell upon our weakness instead of believing His promises and trusting in His faithfulness. The Lord our God should be the only one that warrants us to look to Him for all we need, both temporal and spiritual.

Are you at this time tried, tempted and distressed? Do not seek out fellow man. Cast your burden upon the Lord. Commit your way unto Him. Trust in the Lord forever and He will bring it to pass.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 6&7).

In His service.

Dn Tony Law.

 

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