We were made for freedom. We know that because we’re constantly longing for that end of the to-do list, the resolution of that heavy problem, or whatever else seems to be weighing us down and keeping us back. But freedom never seems to come, and we get tired. We burn out. Some of us learn to live with the heaviness.
That can’t go on forever, you know. A life without joy is exhausting. A life of straining and striving is exhausting. Focusing our minds on some bad thing that shouldn’t have happened or that could possibly happen in the future is exhausting. While we were designed to free, light, anxious for nothing, and resting in God as our strength, we find endless ways to be stuck and stressed. And it has to stop.
How can we get unstuck and de-stressed? One way is to do exactly what Scripture tells us to do. “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). You may not think it’s as easy as flipping a switch, but sometimes it is. It’s a choice to remove our focus from one thing and put it on another. And if the other is God’s goodness, the heaviness begins to dissolve.
Remember that wherever the Spirit is, there’s freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). That applies not only to the burden of legalism but to all kinds of weights in our lives. He offers his strength so we don’t have to burn ourselves out exerting ours. Don’t waste that gift. If you trust him, actually trust him. Let him carry your concerns and choose to live in freedom.
