Monday, January 14, 2013

Day 14: Burdens



Reading: Psalm 9:7-12

This Psalm really puts on display just how sovereign and everlasting our God is. He's been the judge and rule since the beginning of time, and sometimes that can be very hard to remember with our small worlds and problems. We know the work of His hands and the care He shows for His people. Why worry about justice and the issues that come our way? God has a plan in each of our lives. When we call upon Him, He will not abandon us or ignore us.


Reading: Matthew 11:16-30

The whole concept of God in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are very complex and simple at the same time. It only takes the faith of a child to truly accept Jesus. But the aspects to Him are so great and complex. We are called to follow alongside Jesus and allow Him to take our burdens. As Christians, we don't stop facing trials, but with God, those trials can be so much lighter and easier to bear. Apart from God, they can be more complicated and lead us to even more trouble. Jesus tells us to come to Him when we are tired, worn out, burdened, burned out, or hurting. He will bear life's burdens and trials with us. God is small enough to know our deepest desires and hurts, but big enough to handle them, and form huge plans in our lives. He is eternal, and bigger than whatever comes our way. Allow Him to walk alongside of you and help you with the burdens. He will make it so much easier than this world ever could.


Reading: Genesis 29:1-30:33

We can obviously see the sister rivalry that took place here between Leah and Rachel. This story is full of a lot of trickery and scheming. When things don't go our way, like children, jobs, and life events in general, we can have a tendency to take matters into our own hands, whether that means plotting and scheming to get what we want, or paying whatever the cost is for it. When Rachel couldn't have children, she gave her servant to Jacob to get children. When Jacob worked 7 years for Rachel and got Leah because Laban wanted his oldest daughter married off first, we see that Jacob continued to do whatever it took to get Rachel. Then we see the two sisters battling over who is better to Jacob in providing children to the point where they are giving away mandrakes for his affection. Seems pretty desperate to me. The insecurities we carry can sure make us do some weird and sometimes dumb things. We have a hard time trusting that the God of all eternity has great plans for us and our loved ones, so we try to take matters into our own hands. This burden of insecurity should be placed on God and His acceptance of you. Not on people and things of this world. I see this all too often in our society- especially with the younger girls who so desperately want a guy to approve of them. They'll dress in half-shirts and butt-shorts, and do things that they regret a week later, or once they find Mr. Right.
Don't pass your longing for security off to anyone or anything but your Father in heaven. He calls us to lay our burdens on Him. Let Him handle your future. Taking matters into our own hands is dangerous.

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