Life is full of ups and downs, positive and negative experiences.
You may be outwardly looking fantastic, saying the right things, telling people you are fine and yet within you have doubts, fears, struggles, disappointments, pain and heartache.
It doesn’t matter who you are or how old you are. It doesn’t matter if you have chosen to put your faith in God or if you don’t know God personally at all. We all face them – doubts, fears, struggles, disappointments, pain and heartache. They are a part of our humanity.
The question is how can we respond to these in a way that lifts the burden, in a way so they don’t define us or hold us back or keep us down?
God, who is totally loving, knows all about your circumstances…He sees…He hears…and He wants to partner with you, intimately and closely, closer than any human relationship you have.
He knows everything about you. He created you. He breathed life into you when you were conceived. There is not a day that you have lived that He has not observed or been involved in. God loves you so immensely.
He knows that you experience pain and disappointment, that things go wrong, many which are outside your control. We live in what God calls a fallen world, a world that is not based on genuine love, care or selflessness, but a world full of selfishness, pride, evil…let’s be honest…things go wrong, we don’t feel in control, we don’t know how long the good times will last, we don’t know when something bad will come our way, we just know it will. We or others we know may be on the receiving end of hurt, bitterness, injustice by the actions of others and it just doesn’t seem fair.
Challenges come not only from the world we live in, but also in our internal world…our heart, our mind, our soul. We are slaves to our humanity.
Do any of these apply to you?
Do you compare yourself to others?
Do you judge others?
Do you envy others?
Do you boast about things that happen to you or you do to others?
Are you proud of who you are, what you look like, what you are achieved, what you have, what you can do?
Are you selfish?
Are you ungrateful?
Are you unforgiving? Have you stopped talking to someone or do you ignore someone because of something they have done to you or someone close to you?
Are you resentful?
Do you blame others
Are you critical?
The lists goes on…
Let’s think about that for a moment…is that ok?
Is that ideal?
Does that give you peace?
Does that give you joy?
Do you like seeing these things in others?
Do you think others like seeing these things in you?
God knew before you were born, exactly what you would be like and that living in this world and responding to others would be a struggle.
God offers to take the burden of life from you, to lighten the load, and to give you overwhelming peace and calm for every circumstance. He offers to transform your inner being.
He says to you “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
You have a choice…you can continue to ‘do it alone’, ‘do life’ based on your own strength and capability…how is that going for you?…is that the option you want to keep pursuing?…or you can come and acknowledge God, seek and find him, choose to partner with Him and do life together with Him.
It is actually a choice we need to make every day.
God has made a very clear and simple way for us to know him personally. You see, that sinful nature that I mentioned before…the one where we compare, judge, envy, boast, are proud, selfish, unforgiving, critical etc stops us from being able to come to God. God is holy and pure and can’t accept us as we are. But He sent his Son, Jesus, who is also God, to this earth to live as a human, be totally sinless and die in our place as God’s punishment for our sin. Jesus rose from the dead in total victory and then went back to heaven, where he is with God the Father until he comes back to earth again.
God asks you to believe, to have faith that he exists. He asks you to believe that Jesus is God’s Son and died in your place to pay the punishment of your sin. He asks you to acknowledge what Jesus did for you, to repent of your sin and ask him to remove it.
God will forgive you of your sin, he will make you holy and pure in his sight and he will actually come and dwell inside you, transform you and do life together with you. You can know and experience God personally.
We are not guaranteed a pain free, struggle free life, and this is the same if you know God personally or not. However, when you partner with God in this life:
You are forgiven and totally and utterly accepted and loved – do you know how freeing that is? It lifts the burden of life from off your shoulders.
You have God dwelling, living inside of you. His presence enables you to deal with all situations with peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Where there was doubt, there is assurance and confidence
Where there was fear, fear is removed and replaced by love
Where there were struggles, there is ease
Where there was disappointment, there is hope
Where there was pain, there is healing
Where there was turmoil, there is peace
Where there was heartache, there is joy
Where we feel trapped, there is freedom
How do I know? Because I and many people I know who choose to partner with God through Jesus, experience this for ourselves, every day.
We tend to rely on ourselves, others and things rather than God. God calls these idols. We turn to them before we turn to God. God can meet all of the needs you have, every single one, that you are looking elsewhere to be fulfilled. Who or what have you been relying on to get you through life recently?
God wants to set you free, to provide assurance, to give you confidence, to bring hope, to replace the heavy burden of life with ease and lightness, to heal, to forgive and to bring peace, joy and contentment into your life in all circumstances.
Do you believe him? Will you let him ease your burdens?
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