How Heavy Is Your Burden?

Have you ever hauled bricks, or an extremely heavy object and walked around quite some distance? I remember as a kid helping my dad construct a patio, having to haul 15 lbs limestone bricks down and up a hill to the backyard and place each cut stone in the right place. The heavy weight from the bricks would weigh down on my shoulders and arms, wrists and hands; leading me to fatigue, weakness, and soreness.

Keeping this concept in mind—we live in a world of anxiety, stress, finances, impatience, rush, chaos, and evil. At times, we can be tempted to give into the pressure of the world’s heavy burdens; making us heavy and burdened down. It may not be so much a physical feeling, but emotionally, and spiritually. Burdens are duties, problems, issues, a “yoke” that we take upon ourselves. We all have burdens to face, since it’s apart of life, but we have to discern what burdens are for us to bear.

There are burdens from God. Jesus Christ of Nazareth said, “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-burdened. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:29-30). The only burden we should bear is the Lord’s burden and be light and easy and have rest for our souls. We are also commanded to, “bear one another’s burdens, for by doing so you are fulfilling the Law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2). Bearing one another’s burdens in the Body of Christ, according to God’s will simply means to lighten one another’s load or weight.

We must also understand that there are burdens not of God, but from the devil. The way to discern the burdens of Satan is to “put a scale on it.” If the burden is heavyweight, oppressive, slavish, over-working, exhausting, and full of unrest; then you know that the burden is from the enemy of our souls. What happens is the enemy will place a burden on your spirit; and you can get this sense of heaviness. Usually the sense of this spiritual heaviness is very subtle at first since it’s not necessarily a feeling, but in time will begin to wear your spirit down. We must resist with our spirit the devil and his burdens so that him and his burdens will flee. The devil can also target the soul to get that part of us to bear a burden also; that will cause emotional or mental stress, anxiety, depression and so on—to create unease within us. We must use our will and let go of these heavy burdens from the devil, and choose not to accept any burden from him.

These days, we may not even take time or a moment to examine the burdens of our lives. We can be hauling a wrong load that was never meant for us to be carried. Ignorance, pride, and deception can all be means as to why we give into the wrong burdens. Therefore, take time to assess the burdens of your life, and find rest with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s burden…..it’s light and easy!