Hey you.
As I sit across from you, I purposely search your eyes as you talk.
You look exhausted. Your eyes have stopped smiling.
As I listen, I’m starting to understand why.
You have finished speaking and you sit there with tears unwantedly starting to stream down your face. What do I say in this moment?
You can’t carry it all.
May I introduce you to the person who loves you so dearly that he was there for each of the messiest and most heart-breaking moments?
His name is Jesus. And He never meant for you to carry it all.
As I was reading Isaiah today, I saw a key element that, if I’m being honest, took me by surprise. The reason I am writing today is because I need to hear this message as much as you. I was searching the book of Isaiah long and hard to find verses that supported the idea in my head that Jesus meant for life to be easy and less complicated.
Couldn’t find it. Here’s the honest truth: I actually prayed for Jesus to help me find direction with this, because I felt like I was supposed to cross out everything I had written about the above idea and start over. I didn’t know why exactly I should start over again. But I knew something was missing.
Isaiah 51 caught me and God took the blinders away from my eyes. Here’s what it says.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many. The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.”
Here’s what I’m seeing. This life? It’s not about you. So stop carrying the weight of the whole world on your shoulders like it is. You are not the hero at the end of the story. Jesus is. And oh, He’s so much better at it than us. He never asked us to take the full weight of our sin on the cross. So why would He ask you to carry control of this situation; this problem?
This may sound a little harsh. But here goes.
Come away from your problems and duties. Sit at His feet. Cling to Him. Cherish Him. Because at the end of this life, the only thing of importance that you’ll look at is how closely you held onto Him. Not what situations you brought peace to. Not the problems you solved. When you see His face for the first time, all those things called circumstances will fade as you stand at the door of forever with Him.
Our hands were only made to hold tightly to one thing. We only have the capacity for one. So. Will you hold onto the slippery hand of control? Or will you cling to the firm anchor found in Jesus? Let Him make all things new. And rejoice in the strength of a mighty Redeemer who turns your weakness into a pointing stick for His glory.
