Under The Radar
We all live under a light veil of camouflage. It is draped over our messy lives in a way that, we hope, hides the hurt inside. We pick out a t-shirt that says “Life is Good”, and decorate the mantel with the words Live-Laugh-Love. Nothing to see here, folks, my life is great. Absolutely no problems. I got this.
I don’t. I’m gonna be real. I want to shop at a store that sells items tagged “Life is Hard”. I want frescoes on the walls of my home that denote suffering, and maybe a few tears in a bottle on my shelf. I don’t want to perpetuate the illusion that I’ve got it all together because I absolutely do not. As soon as I settle into complacency I am guaranteed that something I never expected is going to land right in my front yard. Maybe it will arrive in the form of grief, loss, illness, unmet expectations, or heartache and it will knock at my door at the worst possible time. Ultimately, it will also bring with it an emotion I do not wish to experience: pain. So, now what?
The Bible tells us to cast our burdens on the Lord (Psalms 55). I used to think of casting as a gentle toss of my fishing line into a stream. Yes, that is one definition. The other is “an act of throwing something forcefully”. It is you wrapping your arms around whatever is weighing you down and screaming as you let it fly: “LORD, I CAN’T CARRY THIS! IT’S TOO MUCH!” Then the effort of that release knocks you off your feet and you lay prostrate on the ground in front of Him. That kind of casting.
Jesus can’t shoulder a burden if you refuse to acknowledge that it exists. Maybe it’s time to ball up the camouflage net and let Him haul that stuff out of there.
Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Psalms 55:2 “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you,”
A great article
I never thought of casting as throwing or heaving them at the cross only ever as in reference to fishing, which is gentle. I like the idea of throwing with force and then leaving it at the cross.