Burdened? Not Any More

Have you ever given your burden over to God and then taken it back?  I have many times.  God receives my burdens over and over again, and when I think he isn’t moving fast enough, I am quick to yank back my request and to try and manage it myself.  I have found over and over again that only our Almighty God has shoulders big enough for all of our burdens.  We just need to pocket the fear and trust Him for the peace.

Recently I received some seemingly adverse news from my mammogram.  The radiologist had seen a shadow and needed to take additional films.  Can you relate? 

I was unprepared for what came next.  The technician let me know that the shadow was something and they were sending me up to Frederick for a sonogram.  When the technician brought me the order for the sonogram she laid a hand on my back and said “try to not worry.”  Hmmm, I thought “should I be worried?”

I went up to Frederick, had the sonogram and sure enough there was a small spot, but to me it looked HUGE.  The radiographer suggested a six month follow up but my primary care doctor asked that I meet with the breast surgeon.  The surgeon diagnosed a cyst and had me schedule a needle aspiration.  YIKES, A NEEDLE!

I had been calm and trusting up to the morning of the appointment.  I told everybody that I knew God had the situation in His hands and that whatever the outcome, I knew that He already knew my future and we would just deal with it when the time came.  The closer my husband and I got to the building, the more anxious I got.  As I pulled into the parking space, the tears started to flow.  I was scared…not so much of the pain but of what they might find.  My husband, an engineer, tried to comfort me with engineer speak…”they will numb you up honey…you won’t feel a thing.”  Was the pain my biggest fear?

I was fighting back tears as I walked down the hall to the procedure room with the nurse.  I was struggling to get ahold of my emotions as I waited in the room for the nurse to come and get me for the procedure.  I remembered Matthew 11:28:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  I called out to God and He did just that—he took the burden of fear pressing on me and gave me the calming peace that He promised.  I went through the procedure pain free with no adverse results and am back to being my old self again.

It is hard to let go of what burdens us and to trust God, mainly because we have to totally rely on our faith.  Hebrews 11:1 says “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  We don’t see God toting our burdens, but he faithfully does.  When we honestly give our burdens over to Him, he does exactly what he says he will do and we rest in the Peace that is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer:  Almighty Father, it is through You and You alone that I find my peace.  Help me to always remember that you have the shoulders and strength to carry my burdens.  May I remember always trust You first and learn to not take back what I know you can carry.

Pat Sanders