Legos

I picture God picking the burdens off of our shoulders like us picking a piece of lint off of someones back. It is so light!

Or picture this: Say we have legos, little legos that connect to our shoulders, at first they are tiny and light but imagine carrying millions of them. Point is they build up. It can start to feel like carrying a sack of bricks. But to God, they are still as light as they were when it was just a single lego. What I am trying to get across is that what seems so heavy to us is so light to God and he longs to take the load off. Consider Matthew 11:28-30

"²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Not only is our burden light to Him, he wants to carry it FOR US. He wants it and wants to give us what is lighter than a piece of lint. You see, God is not like people. He doesn't just sympathize. We look at someone and think I feel so sorry for her, i would hate to be in that situation. We would never want to go through what someone else

is or if we have gone through it already, go back and do it all over again for them. I am sure we would love to think we might take a walk in that persons shoes, make it easier for them. Lets be honest: We usually only feel badly for them. That is one of the many difference between God and us, God sees it so much differently than we do. He sees our burdens and says "Let me take that off of your shoulders, come here, rest in me, I love you. "

This may make this post totally long but when I think of our burdens and the way we seem to hold them tight to us instead of give them up to Jesus, I think of a story I once read.

This story was in a book called "From Faking It to

Finding Grace" written by Connie Cavanaugh

This is probably going to make this post super lo

ng but it is worth it. The story is paraphrasized, I used it as an illustration when I had spoke at my parents church so it's taken right out of my outline:

"I want to tell you the story of a young woman who had one unique characteristic. One thing she was sure everyone noticed, yet no one commented on, her backpack. For as long as she could remember she had always carried her backpack. Never knowing who had given it to her she has always had it; it was like a birthmark to her. Taking it with her day in and day out, it never occurred to her that others may not carry a back pack, she assumed they did.” Everyone has their own load to bear, this is mine” she thought. Years went by and the backpack became harder to carry, adding to it every day she would justify the need that each item must be hidden. Although it never seemed to get full, it felt heavier each morning.

Her backpack had never been empty, but she remembered a time when it felt so much lighter, back then she had been meeting with the Father. She could recall the first time she met the Father, she was nine years old. She was amazed at the peace she sensed. But this was years ago and it only seemed as if it was a good story from a book she had once read. It had been years since she felt that freedom or peace. The Father had always been faithful to her and called her near teaching her things about him, but she could only ever get so close, she knew why. It was because of her backpack.

She cared too much for it to let it go. When it would tear she would fix it making it stronger only to shove more things inside. She bought into the lie that her purpose was to carry her load. There were days after it had been open a lot that she would unzip and pull things out one by one to remember why they were in there. It held millions of small things and a few huge things. There were also dark things way down deep she feared to take out; she didn’t want anyone to see them.

Maybe the problem was she was too attached to her backpack. Everything in it was a piece of her. She wanted to keep it just as much as she wanted freedom from it. It was part of her life; it carried the broken pieces of her heart. Besides, if she didn’t keep it with her she’d never be able to put it all back together.

Going to him was hard, she wanted to feel clean before she went to him but there was just too much junk. She approached his house feeling like death. Entering in, she felt naked and ashamed. Clutching her backpack, she fell face down at his feet. Her guilt washed over her and she could not speak, she could only groan from deep inside. He reached out to her and touched her.

"I don’t think I am ready to give this up." She said clutching her backpack. “Show me what’s in it” He responded.

She opened it and pulled out suffering, pain, confusion; lots and lots of sin; sorrow, depression guilt. He showed her his wrists, his feet, his side, and told her “My beloved I have already paid the price 2000 years ago. You have been carrying this all this time not because you have to, but because you want to.” You belong to me, don’t forget who you are.” She looked down at the spilled contents of her backpack but they were all gone. As she turned to go, she bent to pick up the empty sack she had always carried. “Leave it- it belongs to me, I paid for it.”

Amennn! :-) It is so easy to get overwhelmed in this world. We have someone who is able to handle anything and everything. He stretched His arms out to us and invites us to take rest in Him. The Creator reaching down to His creation.