Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” When you are weary and burdened, God is always available to help. He may not remove that burden from you, but he will certainly straighten your spine and shore you up as you carry it. God may not make you able to bear your burden without pain, but he will make you able to bear it with joy.

We all bear burdens on our pilgrimage through this weary and wearying world. Sometimes these are burdens of temptation, when we feel the world, the flesh, and the devil arrayed against us, luring and enticing us toward some sinful thought or depraved deed. Sometimes these are burdens of guilt as we think back to a sin we committed and we grieve our folly, grieve our inner disposition away from what is good and toward what is evil. Sometimes these are burdens of physical pain as we suffer the effects of living as mortal beings whose bodies are ravaged by time, age, and illness. In all these ways and so many more we go through life burdened by heavy weights that may be physical, emotional, relational, financial, spiritual.

I wonder if you are being pressed or crushed by such a weight even today. Perhaps you are asking what you can do and how you can bear up under it. What actions should you take when you feel the tremendous weight of such a burden? The Bible provides three instructions.

First, you must bear your burden. Galatians 6:5 says, “each will have to bear his own load.” While there are some burdens you may share with others, there are some that you will have to bear alone.

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