Shift the Weights: Dealing with Heaviness
- mlcrendon
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
"A time to throw away." Ecclesiastes 3: 6
Have you felt an increase in heaviness? It hangs and lingers like a shadow. It may be attached to worry, anxiety or just the challenges of where we are in this chaotic world right now.
Burdens are the heavy weights that make our hearts feel weighed down. They can be exhausting to hold or carry and may completely drain our energy and halt our progress.
When We Want to Escape
The Psalms provide expressive vocabulary for our deep soul struggles. Psalm 55 poignantly captures David's emotional distress as he reveals his inner pain and agony.
"My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me."
The weight of David's anguish makes him long to escape. He describes fear, terror, death approaching and physical and emotional trembling. This is intense overwhelm and threat.
"Oh, that I would fly away and be at rest. Yes, I would wander far away." (Psalm 55:6-7)
We all reach a point where we want to escape. No one wants to remain trapped in difficulties; we naturally yearn for relief or solutions to ease our suffering.
How to Shift the Weights?
"Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never let the righteous be shaken." (Psalm 55:22)
David seems to offer an answer to his desperate heartache. He suggests that relief and freedom come from forcefully casting the weight of our overwhelm and anxiety not just towards God, but directly upon Him.
The small word "on" translates to "over." David previously described anguish and dread as being upon himself, but he declares that the burden should be thrown upon God.
This is an unusual image which changes the direction and focus, casting away our burdens in surrender and onto Jehovah! To transfer a weight to someone else, you must be closer.
When I feel stressed and overwhelmed, my usual response is to breathe deeply, listen to music, and pray. But David's resolution involves an unfamiliar movement and action that leads to being sustained. The word "sustain" means to be nourished and supported.
What a remarkable exchange—from emotional implosion to soul nourishment.
God has unlimited capacity!
The Redirection
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)
The verb "cast " literally means "throw it upon." This implies that we are casting off our burdens and redirecting the weight in a substantial launch. It no longer lingers on us or hovers over our thoughts! We must learn to pray and release our burdens in this way.
The act of throwing away is an intentional shift of the burden from one place to another. It involves a complete transfer of weight and a release.
Hurling our challenges upon God is an act of faith and acknowledgement. When you throw something away, you don’t go back to retrieve it!
The shift is from self to Saviour!
Reflection Questions
What weights or burdens have been difficult to carry recently?
How can I transfer the heaviness onto God?
When I encounter release, do I later return to retrieve or pick up what was weighing me down?
What is the purpose of this shifting weight season in my life? How can I activate and maintain this as a daily surrender?
New Book Coming Soon!
Todays reflection is taken from my new book. It is finally almost ready!!!!!
Times and Seasons is a 35-day devotional journey through Ecclesiastes 3 that helps you pause, reflect, and find God’s presence in the challenges and changes of life.
I planned to launch it before Christmas, but it seems it has had to wait until this season. I am aiming for my birthday in April, so I will be sharing more over the next few weeks!
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