Tightrope walking?

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT)

Far too many times, we carry burdens beyond our capacity to carry, wearing out under their load. I am now well into my sixth decade on this earth and sometimes think I can still 'carry' what I did when I was in my second decade. The results are quite different now than they were then! I get winded, my back aches, and it takes me about a week to fully recover from such 'load bearing'. The things we carry in our emotions may not give us a backache, leave us winded, but they can definitely put a 'load' upon our bodies and minds that we weren't really created to carry. Those emotional burdens are like a weight that gets us into a place where we see and feel nothing other than the burden. Jesus did more than offer to 'ease our burden' - he actually offers to carry it fully. We just have to admit we aren't doing a very good job carrying it on our own!

Therein is the rub. We find it almost impossible to admit we cannot, or should not, carry that burden. We see ourselves as 'capable' or 'hearty enough' to bear it. Truth be told, we are doing a miserable job trying to conceal just how poorly we are carrying it! We are in over our heads, and we need God's help to get out from under it - period. Emotionally we are 'spent'. Physically we are 'exhausted'. Spiritually we are 'weakened'. In summary, we are way too far out on that tightrope with nothing to bring balance back into our lives until we admit we are about to lose it all together. The tightrope requires our constant attention. The moment we look down, the more we realize if we take our attention off the burden (the tightrope), we will fall to our peril. 

Jesus doesn't give us tightropes to walk. We do that all on our own. We find ways to put ourselves in emotional, spiritual, or physical peril all without considering just how much Jesus wants to be the one to bear that burden. We figure he will be our 'safety net' and that we must walk the tightrope of that burden all alone. Jesus didn't offer us a safety net - he offered us easy and safe passage around, across, or beyond that burden! The last thing any of us needs is to think we are 'capable' when we are certainly incapable. I will give you rest - that was Christ's promise then and it remains his promise now. We just need to forego the belief that we can do this all on our own. This year, why not try a different approach to life's challenges? Instead of holding onto them so tightly, perhaps you and I would find the year unfolding much better if we'd just let go of the things that burden and weigh us down, leaving us physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. Just sayin!