Psalms 68:19 God who daily bears our burdens
We can see many people who have stress because of various kinds of problems. They are uneasy, worried, and unhappy.
Furthermore, as we live in this foreign country we are easily irritated, worried and stressful because of different ethnic (language, culture, food).
These worries and anxieties lead people to unhappiness and they make families, society, and even churches fall into the swamp of unhappiness.
Worries and anxieties do not help us to build up the kingdom of heaven. Instead, if we worry for a long time, we will be in danger of having mental disorder and physical diseases.
Today's medical study says, "Almost all of the diseases come from worries, uneasiness, fear and stress. About this, the bible says, "A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." (Proverbs 17:22) "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." (Proverbs 15:13)
It means that worries hurt not only our spirit but also our hard bones, and worries destruct even healthy and strong persons.
People drink alcohol, take drugs, or gamble to escape from worries and stress. Others try to read books or have good hobbies to be free from worries.
But remember! These are only temporary and imperfect ways, kind of removing the cobwebs, not catching the spider.
That is, human methods cannot set people perfectly free from worries, for the fallen people have not enough power to bear the burden of worries.
When people suffered from worries, God sent us the Saviour Jesus Christ. And Jesus said to us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28)
Brothers and sisters, who on earth can set us free from all of the burdens? Nobody told us like Jesus. However, Jesus said to us, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened.”
Jesus never said, “Come to me, only such a person," but he said, "Come to me all of you, young and old, men and women, poor and rich, high and low."
Therefore, when we have worries, when we are heavy burdened because of various kinds of problems, we have to come to Jesus.
Jesus said to us, "Do not worry about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear." (Matt 6:31) "Do not worry about tomorrow." (Matt 6:34) "Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." (John 14:1)
Brothers and sisters, Jesus has not come to us to steal our precious time. He has never come to us to bother us. He has never come to us to push us to have religious ceremony.
Jesus has come to us to set us free from our heavy burdens. Believing in Jesus does not mean doing religious ceremony, but it means taking rest and peace in Jesus.
Jesus said to us, "I will give you rest." That is, if we come to Jesus, we can take real rest and real peace. However, some people do not take rest even though they have come to church. It is regrettable.
Let me tell you a story that happened in Korea about five decades ago. When there were not many cars on the road, a missionary saw a woman carrying a big baggage on her head.
The missionary said to her, "You are really heavy burdened! Come and get in the car and I will give you a ride."
She said, "Thank you very much" and got in the car. After a while when the missionary looked back at her, she was still carrying the big baggage on her head in the car.
He thought very strange, and asked her, "Why don't you put it down?" Then she replied, "Oh, I can't because I’d feel sorry if I put it down.
It was a kind of funny story. However, there are so many Christians like her. The reason that Jesus has come to us is to lighten our burdens. However, people worry even in the church. It is really foolish and regrettable.
Brothers and sisters, I ask you, put your heavy burden down at Jesus' feet. Do not worry. Do not be sad or depressed.
Jesus says, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Oh, you of little faith!" (Matt 6:27,30)
Let me tell you my family's regrettable story. My father living in Korea has lung cancer. The doctor said, "He will live six months, maximum."
Four months has already passed by, but thanks to your prayers, my father has no pain and the cancer has diminished.
However, from a few weeks ago, he lost his appetite because of a worry. The worry is that my parents live in a rented apartment at 95,000,000 won.
My father worries that the owner will raise the rental fee by about 10,000,000 won in October. My mother said to him, "Please dear don't worry about it. It really hurts your health." However, he thinks that worrying is his duty. It is very regrettable.
Brothers and sisters, aren't you like this? Don't you make yourselves burdened by worrying? And don't you trouble your family and others by worrying?
The privilege of Christians is not to worry but to rejoice in Jesus. A worrying Christian is not a good Christian. A rejoicing Christian is a good Christian.
What does the bible say to us? It says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7) "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you, he will never let the righteous fall." (Psalms 55:22)
"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." (Psalms 37:5-6)
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." (Proverbs 16:3)
In Hebrew, the word 'to cast, to commit' means 'to roll down.' Think! If you pull up a big stone on the top of the mountain, it is very hard. However, if you roll it down a slope, it is so easy.
That means you don’t need to worry about the stone of the problem, but roll it down on God. If you ask, "How can we roll it down?" the bible answers, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7) It means if we tell our problems to God, God will solve our problems and gives us peace. Therefore the bible says, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress." (Psalms 107:6)
All of the great persons in the Bible told their problems to God and put down their burdens before God. Let us see Moses. He faced many troubles as he led the Israelites into the Promised Land Canaan. He prayed honestly to God, "Lord, why have you brought this trouble on your servant? Why have you put the burden of all these people on me? I cannot carry all of these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me." (Numbers 11:11,14)
Then God said to Moses, "I will take the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone." (Numbers 11:17)
Brothers and sisters, how can parents be joyful when their children worry? Likewise, God never wants us to worry because of the heavy burdens.
Therefore, let's cast out all our burdens on God not only yesterday but also today and tomorrow as well. God bears our burdens not only yesterday but also today and tomorrow as well.
Therefore the bible says, 'Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens." (Psalms 68:19)
Amen!