Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
We need never suffer from insupportable burdens when the Lord has told us to cast them upon Him, and He will sustain us. But so many times after we have turned our burdens over to Him we unconsciously take them back again. This does not mean, of course, that we need have no concern whatsoever about our daily affairs, but that we need have no Anxious concern about them. After we have done all that we can do to help ourselves, we must then wait patiently for God to finish the work.
God knows what is needed to change a child of His from a self-centered, perhaps unlovely person into one who will reflect the tenderness and compassion of Jesus Christ. And how indeed could we sympathize with the tribulations of others if we had not suffered from them ourselves? When we think of the blind, the lame, the crippled, and countless others with such heavy burdens to bear, our cross in comparison will sink into insignificance, we will realize how much we have to be thankful for, and praise God every day for our many blessings.
Why falter in our daily task,
Why bow beneath the load,
Why toil until our courage fails
Upon a rocky road ?
Let us cast our burdens on the Lord,
Who has promised to sustain,
And when we see His face some day,
All things shall be made plain.
1st Corinthians 2:9: “….Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
This is a promise that is hard for our finite minds to grasp, but it should fill us with the deepest joy. Let us for a few moments close our eyes and visualize the earth in its present magnificence–the mountains, valleys, canyons, seas, rivers, flowers, trees, and all the other marvels of nature, beautiful beyond compare even in their present condition of death and decay. Then let us ponder upon the fact that God has prepared for those who love Him things so surpassingly lovely that it is impossible to have more than the faintest conception of the glory that shall one day be ours.
Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard
The things God hath prepared
For the faithful ones who love Him,
And in His Word declared.
When we shall see God’s handiwork,
Earth’s grandeur will seem nought,
For mortal man cannot conceive
The glory God has wrought.
Psalms 62:6: “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.”
God is my Rock. We all remember the Bible story of the two men who decided to build a house. One built his house on the sand, and when the winds and rain came, it fell. The other erected his home on a rock, and even the most tempestuous storm could not demolish it. This is a valuable lesson for the followers of Christ to learn. They should fashion their lives upon the impregnable Rock, Christ Jesus, and no assaults of evil can ever move them.
God is my Salvation. There is no other way to Him except through faith in Christ Jesus. We must of course, demonstrate our faith by works, but only faith will bring us the answers to our prayers, and give us the joy and peace that we long for.
He is my Defense, and I shall not be moved. Other defenses, even the strongest, may be destroyed. But if Jesus is our Defense, nothing, let us repeat Nothing can move us unless we allow ourselves to be moved. Let us be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1st Corinthians 15:58).
I will build my house upon the rock,
And not upon the sand,
When roaring floods sweep on the shore,
It will not fall, but stand.
And when I build my house of faith,
I have my great reward
For building on the mighty Rock,
Which is the blessed Lord.
1st Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
It has, no doubt, appeared at times that our own trials and temptations are unique, and that every ill that has come upon mankind since the day Adam listened to Eve’s voice in the garden has picked us out as a special target. Perhaps our neighbors feel the same way about themselves.
We, as children of God, have inherited the promise that no temptation will exceed what we are able to bear, for a way of escape is provided for us. We probably will not know exactly what this avenue will be or when it will be presented to us. It may be a letter, a telephone call, a gift, a visit or some unexpected bit of good news. Whatever it is, we should recognize it when it comes.
In the face of the unspeakable tragedies taking place in the world today, and the bewilderment and suffering of mankind in general, should we not be very thankful that God has promised that no matter how great the trial, there will be a way of escape for us as God’s children?
When temptations overtake us,
And life is dark indeed,
And seemingly we are alone,
Our God will intercede;
He will make a way we can escape
From grief’s detaining hand,
And pain and sorrow will take flight
At His divine command.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One