Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you…
(Psalm 55:22 ESV)
It is a very wonderful thing to hear the same invitation repeated over and over in the Bible. Some things that the Lord says seem to echo throughout the Scriptures. This gives us great confidence that the Lord wants us to accept his invitation! In the Bible, time and time again, God invites us to give him our burdens.
God Invites You to Be Rid of Your Burden
I want to show you in the Bible how the Lord Jesus sees the burdens you are carrying, and he says to you, “don’t carry it another day.” The way to be sustained under your heavy burden is to cast it off of you and onto the Lord (Psalm 55:11).
Midday, aware of emotional burdens I carried, the Holy Spirit slowly read me a verse through my memory: “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And in those words, I heard the voice of Jesus beckoning me to take the things weighing down my heart and bring them to him.
Nighttime came and as I relayed my burden to a friend, she replied, “that’s not your burden to carry.” She pointed out that I was taking responsibility for a task that only God could perform. My “burden” was too heavy. It was a weight only God could carry. I could feel it crushing me as I tried to bear it.
After her kind rebuke, another bit of God’s Word came to mind, “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). The thought entered my mind—I can get rid of this burden and be free of it today. I don’t have to carry it another day. Jesus will carry the burden I have been bearing, for only he can truly carry it.
God Delights to Bear Your Burdens
What burden are you carrying? Burden is precisely the right word. What weighs you down? What, if you are honest, is too heavy for you right now? Would you take it to Jesus today?
He invites you to do so, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). And if you do, he promises to sustain you (Psalm 55:22) and to give you rest (Matthew 11:28).
Jesus delights to carry your burdens. Before you ever knew or loved him, Jesus determined to carry your greatest burden for you when he gave his life for you at the cross. Here is how the Bible describes Jesus carrying our burden of sin:
“It was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down… But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed…the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6 NLT)
Why did Jesus bear our burden on the cross? “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18 NIV, emphasis added).
Jesus died on the cross to deal with sin so that you could live in a loving close relationship with God. God loves you, and cares for you. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NIV). Have you put your faith in Jesus, confessed to him the burden of sin you carry and asked him to fulfill his Word to carry it for you? Will you trust that Jesus alone can make you right with God (John 14:6; Acts 4:12)?
If you have received Jesus’ invitation to carry your greatest burden, then you can be sure he delights to carry every other burden you have in this life.
How to Be Rid of Your Burden
How do I give Jesus my burdens? you might ask. You do it just like you would carry your burden to any other friend. You can give your burden to the Lord however you would like—that’s between you and him. If you would like an idea for how to do so, I’ll share my own way by example in case it’s helpful to you.
I took out a piece of paper from my journal (you could open a new note on your phone, grab a journal, or just pray aloud). I thought it would help me “cast” my burden on the Lord if I wrote my burden down on something physical then “put it away”—whether throwing it away, or stuffing it back in the journal out of sight. In a way, I transferred the burden off my heart, into ink, onto paper, and then gave it to the Lord.
Here’s how I handed it over to him, and how you might also like to rid yourself of your burden by giving it to the Lord.
Thank the Lord: Lord, thank you for caring for me. Thank you for the freedom and rest you offer me today through your Word and your desire to carry my burdens for me.
Show Him Your Burden: Lord, I am burdened by ________.
Admit You Need Help: Lord, I can’t _______ (save X person, change X person’s heart, do X task, escape from X, emotionally bear X, provide for X, etc.).
Ask Him to Carry Your Burden: Lord, you can ____________. I ask for you to do what only you can do (name the responsibility you want him to take in the situation). I ask you to carry this burden, and I entrust my burden to you.
However you choose to do it, “cast your burden on the Lord” today! And “he will sustain you.” That’s his promise (Psalm 55:22). Don’t carry your burden into tomorrow, go to the Lord and leave it with him before the day is done.