May 19, 2020 Life's Burdens - Father Michael's Words to Live By
‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
A BIT OF HUMOR:
A gardener took great pride in caring for his lawn. But one year it grew full of dandelions. He tried every method and product to get rid of them, but nothing worked. Exasperated, he wrote the Department of Agriculture explaining all he had done. “What shall I try next?” he wrote. “Try getting use to them,” came the reply.
A GOOD ILLUSTRATION:
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it". "If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance." "In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
The place of not being able to carry on is the where the enemy wants us. Some of us have held the glass so long we don't realize we are still holding the glass. God said in His word to cast your cares on Him for He cares for you. He cares enough that He will carry your burdens for you so that you can carry on! "As with the glass of water, you have to put them down before you get to the point of inability.
When we're refreshed, we can carry on." God has a work for you to do. "So, right now, put the burden of work, finances, family and any other burden you have down. Don't carry them anymore, let it go! Whatever you're carrying, let go and let God carry them for you." "Relax! Rest in the Lord. Life is short. Enjoy it! Be Blessed!”
AND DON’T FORGET …
“No matter how dark the sky, how discouraging the circumstances, how desperate the situation, God is there; a God who is too good to forget and too great to fail. God is there, his mighty arm ruling this universe, redeeming all who will let him, and reinforcing any who respond to him in faith and obedience!” ~ Leo Green
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
As we offer our prayers today, may we recall the words of John Bunyan: “He that is down needs fear no fall. He that is low, no pride; He that is humble, ever shall have God to be his Guide.”
I’m also reminded of Oswald Chambers’ words: “God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute.” Lord, may it be so for me. Amen.
AND DON’T FORGET:
God does not need to transplant us into a different field, but right where we are, with just the exact circumstances that surround us, he makes his sun to shine and his dew to fall upon us, and transforms the very things that were before our greatest hindrances into the most blessed means of our growth.
No difficulties in your case can baffle him, no dwarfing of your growth in years that are past, no apparent dryness of your inward springs of life, no crookedness or deformity in any of your past development, can in the least mar the perfect work that he will accomplish, if you will only put yourselves absolutely into his hands and let him have his own way with you. ~ Hannah Whitall Smith
Blessings,
Fr. Michael+