At His Feet…

September 4, 2016

At His Feet…

Praise be to the LORD, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19 (NIV)

There is no mountain too high, no road too crooked, no heart too broken, no burden you will carry that is too heavy for your God; Set it down at His feet.

How clearly I remember the excitement of the new school year…and the excitement of new school supplies! At our house, it seemed like Christmas…new pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, red, green, yellow, blue…new spirals, new lunch kits and of course the very best…the new backpacks!

We know that in the first few days and weeks of school, the backpacks remain light and burden-less; but then, as the days of school wear on, and little ones accumulate hidden treasures, and the big kids collect the school books for the homework assignments, the backpacks become heavy…and then heavier…and what was so attractive in the first days, becomes a burden to bear…

I know this because on the wonderful precious days when I have the privilege of doing the ‘grand’ pick up…I watch the little ones rush out the door of school with their backpacks weighting them down, the burden slipping from their slight bodies. And as they make their way to the car and to me, they struggle to slip their burdensome load from their shoulders before dropping it at my feet, inviting me to carry their heavy treasures, their heavy loads. Then, bounding into my car, totally and completely unencumbered, with a renewed enthusiasm, they continue their day with new resolve, experiencing relief from their heavy loads, their backpacks.

My precious ones have collected items which are important to them…sometimes a stuffed animal sneaks its way in, sometimes a purse with hidden treasures, or sometimes rocks or toy trucks…or even a red firetruck…not to mention a butterfly lunch-kit, a dinosaur water-bottle, a school book and a library book…Oh my, the heavy, heavy loads…

I have mentioned before that I learn many lessons from watching and doing life with my grands…and those life-lessons began with our two precious children, our son and our daughter. Much of what I have learned about life, I have learned since becoming a mother, and now a ‘grand’ to our grands…

I have learned…

There is no mountain too high, no road too crooked, no heart too broken, no burden you will carry that is too heavy for your God; Set it down at His feet.

No wonder our God invites us to do life with Him, allowing Him to walk with us, to abide with us, to live in us, to shine through us, to lead us, to counsel us, to carry our heavy loads, and to often carry us when we cannot stand on our own.

We have all been there. We have visited the times in and the places of life where we collect and carry concerns for ourselves, our needs, our hurts and our pain. And more life comes, and we collect concerns for our family members, and for our friends…health issues, relationship issues, crises moments, cross-roads and decision moments, life-transitions…

And, we carry the load, the heavy, heavy loads, in the “backpacks” of our hearts…We carry them because we love…

We promise to pray for the ones we love, we promise to care for the ones we love, we promise to do life with our family, our friends, our employees, our church community…to pray for them and to love them…

And, we carry the load, the heavy, heavy loads, in the “backpacks” of our hearts…We carry them because we love…and our LORD intends that we do life together…and that we serve, pray for, and love one another.

But…I have learned, that our LORD did not intend for us carry the heavy loads alone…He did not intend for us to do life with others, without HIM at our side…

My dear friends, I understand and I know what it feels like to do life with the people who are most precious to you, to serve them, to pray for them, to love them…and I understand that sometimes, the load just becomes heavy…so heavy. Sometimes, we slip so many people’s, needs, hurts, pains, into the “back-packs” of our hearts, and we attempt to carry it alone. We heave it over our shoulder…we take it with us everywhere we go because we love…and we begin to struggle, to stumble, to feel the temptation to give up…

I have learned, that our LORD did not intend for us carry the heavy loads alone…He did not intend for us to do life with others, without HIM at our side…because,

There is no mountain too high, no road too crooked, no heart too broken, no burden you will carry that is too heavy for your God; Set it down at His feet.

Set it down at His feet…

Just as our grands dash out the door of their schools and immediately drop their heavy loads at my feet or the feet of their mom or dad, our LORD calls to us to come and to bring Him the heavy loads which we carry because we love…our husbands, our children, our grands, our extended families, our friends, our church community…our neighbors…And, yes we are called to serve these people, to pray for these people, to love these people…

I have learned, that our LORD did not intend for us carry the heavy loads alone…He did not intend for us to do life with others, without HIM at our side. He intends and He desires that we take the heavy loads, the “backpacks” of our hearts…and Set them down at His Feet…

And friends, I have learned that when they are just too heavy to carry…Our Loving Father reaches down with His Mighty Hand and takes the heavy, heavy load from our shoulders…

I have learned from my LORD that love is never too heavy to bear with HIM by our side, as we set our heavy loads at His feet…moment by moment…every day of our lives. And when they are too heavy to carry to Him, He reaches down and slips the heaviness from our shoulders and from our hearts…and He saves…

“Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you…” Psalm 81:6-7 NLT

Blessings and abundant joy,