Category: Things I’m learning

sustaining strength

“Cast your burden on the Lord,
& He will sustain you.”
Psalm 55:22a

With all that is happening in our nation and in the hearts of people I’ve struggled with finding the words to describe this season and how my soul has felt. As I pray I’ve frequently found myself at a loss for words…there’s so much that needs prayer but all that seems to come out is: “Oh Jesus, we need You. Only You.” There’s a soul ache and heaviness that I haven’t known exactly how to process.

So as I was reading Psalm 55 and asking Jesus to help me surrender what is beyond my comprehension the word BURDEN is verse 22 stood out to me. 

“That’s it. That’s what I haven’t been able to find the word for — burdened.”

So I had to examine my heart and ask: am I choosing to carry a burden that Jesus has commanded me to surrender to Him?

When faced with a burden, I have a choice: either to carry it myself and rely on my own strength OR I can choose to cast my burden on Jesus and allow HIM to carry it. And when He carries it, He also sustains me.

In order for the LORD to sustain me, I MUST cast my burden onto Him.

So I must ask the question: If I’m not casting my burden onto Jesus, then what is sustaining me? 

The word sustain comes from sustenance; and when I think of sustenance I think of something that is necessary for my survival, I think of a place where I go for provision, rest, nourishment, strength, encouragement, endurance, perseverance…without sustenance I would not be able to continue because I would no longer have what is necessary. 

The Hebrew definition of sustain is to contain, maintain, support, hold in, and restrain. I love the imagery that description brings. Because while the enemy seeks to destroy, unravel, rob, and divide us; Jesus is the one holding us, keeping us, and sustaining us.

So I ask myself: what am I relying on for sustenance? 
Myself? My strength, ability, resources & energy? Or God’s?

I want to allow the One who created me, the One who knows my needs before I do, to sustain me. He is the only One who can sustain me:

When I don’t have the answers.
When it doesn’t make sense.
When I don’t understand.
When it’s overwhelming.
When it seems hopeless.
When the weight is crushing.

I’m so grateful that He’s not surprised or overwhelmed by my burdens.

Instead, He WANTS them.

If the weight of the burden you’re carrying feels like it’s gonna crush you, cast it onto the shoulders of your Almighty Heavenly Father. You were never designed to carry the weigh of it anyway. 

God knew we would be burdened so He gave us verses like Psalms 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7 says: “casting all your care [worry/anxiety] upon Him, for He cares for you.”

Jesus cares for you like no one else in the world ever will.

Don’t avoid the burden or act like you can carry it! Cast it on Him!

When I’m burdened with something I frequently have to cast it on the Lord multiple times, because too often, I pick it back up… but the word “cast” means throw, hurl, or fling. It’s not a half-hearted, light, nonchalant “toss” it’s an utterly COMPLETE & TOTAL SURRENDER with no hope of retrieval…

We can attempt to avoid the burden and the consequent exhaustion that carrying it brings… but it’s there, sooner or later you’re going to have to face it.

And then, once you face it, you will have to determine: am I going to keep carrying this and acting like I’m “strong enough” or am I going to cast it onto the Lord?

For a long time I thought of this word “casting” as an avoidance, an “easy way out,” or an “escape” of what was burdening me. But as I’ve asked Jesus (and continue to ask Him) how to cast my burdens onto Him I’m learning that casting my burden is a choice to surrender what is beyond my comprehension and control. When I cast the burden on Him it allows me to not crumble under the weight of what I cannot control so He can sustain me for what He has called me to.

The burden doesn’t change but WHO’S carrying it does. It doesn’t mean that I neglect the burden as if it doesn’t exist or excuse it, but I realize that ultimately God is the only one strong enough to carry it. I cannot hold it up myself.

And, once I grasp that, I am free to walk in His sustaining strength.

strength for all things.

"I can do all things 
through Christ 
who strengthens me." 
Phil 4:13

We’ve all heard that verse a million times right?? People frequently use it to find motivation & inspiration: to do something hard or start something scary. It’s a “nice verse” to put on a T-shirt or coffee mug.

We all want “strength” for “all things” right?!? Who wouldn’t?!

But when I read this verse in context it gives a very different picture than my usual understanding of this verse… in the verses prior Paul says:

"I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I know how to be brought low & I know how to abound.
In any & every circumstance,
I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger,
abundance & need."
Phil 4:11b-12

So wait a minute… Paul is talking about being CONTENT in all circumstances:

Content in humiliation.

Content in hunger.

Content in need.

And he completes this thought by saying “I CAN do ALL things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.”

As I look at the life Paul it was NOT one of ease or comfort. Just read 2 Corinthians 11:23-31 for an overview of the sufferings he faced which include imprisonment, beatings, stoned, shipwrecked…and the list goes on!

As I look at Paul’s life it was defined by surrender, strength in the Lord & a deep contentment with God’s will for his life. And when I examine my own heart it causes me to ask the Lord to give me strength to rest & trust in Him amidst difficulty and suffering. I see that it’s ssooo easy for me to rely on my own strength for things that I want to do or even to do good things; like ministry! I can muster up strength to push through & persevere through many things, even while under the pretense of doing it “in the Lord’s strength,” but one of the greatest tests as to whether or not I’m relying on the Lord’s strength is when something unexpected happens. . . something that is beyond my control and far out of my ability to change. In moments of stress or frustration the Lord reveals who I’m really relying on: myself or Him.

That is why suffering plays such a necessary role in the life of the believer: Jesus never promised to spare us from suffering, but He has given us His Holy Spirit to TRANSFORM us THRU suffering. Have you realized that those in the Bible who God mightily worked through always endured great affliction? It’s because Jesus purifies & refines us in trials. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…”

We know life is frail and that everything that is on this earth is delicate and temporal but it’s also easy to live like we’ve forgotten that. . . sometimes it takes a crisis, or a pandemic, for us to remember & refocus. To realize that I’ve never had any strength and that any power I think I had was really only an illusion, I had deceived myself into believing I was in control. The reality of the gospel is that it reveals the selfishness & rebellion in my heart and brings me to the feet of Jesus where He changes my heart.

When we read that God gives us strength for all things we want to tell God what we want strength for: to get the promotion, to earn the achievement, to receive the award . . . you know, we want to have the strength to do things that are “glamorous” or “show-y.” I’m pretty much saying that I want the strength to do the things that I want so that in the end I can proclaim, “I did this through Christ’s strength! Pretty amazing huh?!”

But Paul talking about BEING CONTENT in all things: including humiliation, hunger, and need. 

Woah. 

But that doesn’t make me look strong or impressive, in fact, that goes against the false “gospel” that says Jesus wants you to be successful, rich, and prosperous.

But what if the desire of Jesus’ heart is for you to walk through a season of something you’d never have chosen for yourself?
What if that’s how He wants to demonstrate His strength in you? 

What if He’s asking you to go thru something you know is impossible because then ONLY HE will get the glory? If Jesus is truly my Lord and Savior that means He gets to decide how I will give Him glory. The walk of faith is one of worshipping God amidst the ash, before the beauty. Much like Job, in the middle of despair and grief declared: “The Lord gives & the Lord takes away: blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

Jesus wants to create in us a heart that will surrender, worship, & glorify Him in all circumstances. He's looking for a vessel that's empty of itself so He can fill a heart that declares: "Lord, I want to give You glory in what You have prepared for me."

I don’t want to look back on my life one day and realize that I spent all my effort trying to stay strong while all along Jesus was trying to show me my own weakness so He could be my strength.

If Jesus faced humiliation, hunger, & need how do I expect to be spared from those things? Luke 9:58 say that Jesus had “no place to lay His head” and when we pray: “Jesus, I want to be more like You” we’d rather bypass the suffering, pain & sorrow.
But the fact is that Jesus promises tribulation in John 16:33! He says: “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

It’s easy for the world to have happiness, peace, & joy when everything seems care-free & easy, but the moment things go off the rails their happiness is also gone. Jesus has given us His Holy Spirit to give us the FRUIT of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) AMIDST trial & suffering. He does the impossible in us because when we’re at our weakest we can rejoice that He is our strength. We, like Paul, can say: “I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me…I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

“God is our refuge & strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth gives way…”
-Psalm 46:1-2

the break of dawn.

This verse in Psalms encouraged me tremendously over the summer & now, as I find myself looking back, it brings me such comfort to reflect on what God has done & is continuing to do.

Maybe you can relate to walking thru seasons that feel ‘dark.’ Seasons when you wonder what Jesus is doing or where He is. Seasons that test your hope…

Are you in the middle of something where it feels like day will never come?
Has the night been too long?
Have you doubted if you’ll ever see the light of day?
Have you been disappointed: thinking the prayer should’ve already been answered?
Are you close to giving up?

O heart . . .
don’t lose hope —
day is dawning.
light is breaking.
the sun is about to pierce thru.
— and it will change everything . . .

But what if it looks different than you expected?
. . . are you ready to receive that?

Maybe your situation won’t change but you’ll realize that Jesus has been with you all along.
You have not been lost.
You have not been alone.
He is right by your side: guiding you with the light of His presence.

Often times we pray for seasons suffering or waiting to be removed because we know that God is all-powerful & can change our circumstances in an instant. So we struggle to trust Him when when our prayers seem unanswered and our faith is tested when nothing changes.

Many times we think our faith will be strengthened when the suffering is removed… but true faith is produced when we pray for God’s will to be done amidst the storm.

Maybe the greatest miracle isn’t a change of circumstance
but a change of heart.

God changes our hearts & refines our faith in the fire & thru the storm: we learn to walk by faith when we cannot see what’s ahead. We learn to trust His character when we don’t feel His presence.

We can trust Him in the dark: because He is the light.
Dawn is breaking.
He is in your midst.

"There is no other name but the name that is Jesus
He who was & still is, & will be through it all
So come what may in the space between
All the things unseen & this reckoning
I know I will never be alone

There'll be another in the fire
Standing next to me
There'll be another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
How good You've been to me
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me"
-Another in the Fire, Hillsong

like a stranger

Hebrews 11:8-10  “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed & went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac & Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect & builder is God.”

…In the promised land like a stranger.

After reading these verses I had such a new perspective on Abraham’s life…
I began thinking about how Abraham must’ve felt… can you imagine?
By faith Abraham obeyed the word of God, walked by faith, and went into a land that he had never seen before. When Abraham arrived in the Promised Land, Hebrews says that “he made his home by faith in the promised land like a stranger.“

Did you ever realize that Abraham felt like an outcast, foreigner, and stranger in the land God promised to him? Even though the land was his inheritance and something God promised to give him, it was not yet his… other nations & people occupied the land. Every day must’ve been a test of his faith. He must’ve thought: “I am here: where the Lord has called me, and this is my land, even though it doesn’t look like it now.”

Abraham had to walk by faith — not by sight.
He had to trust God for what he could not see.

Abraham’s life must’ve felt like a constant in-between. Doesn’t walking by faith often feel like that? He was where God wanted him, but he had not yet arrived to where he was going. Abraham understood that the promised land was not his final destination. He was looking forward to heaven & he was willing to follow God anywhere because He was the Reward.

Genesis 15:1 says: “After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your Shield, your exceedingly great Reward.'”

Don’t you love that?!

Many times I’ve viewed the “promised land” as some far-off, dream destination where all my worries and cares will be dissolved because everything will be right & at peace. —  but that wasn’t what the promised land was for Abraham or the Israelites! The promise land was not a care-free, luxurious, comfortable, perfect destination. Nope. On the contrary: while it was a land flowing with milk and honey there were also battles to be fought, land to be conquered, and territory to be won.
But the promised land was the place God had prepared for Abraham and his descendants – it was the place where God’s presence was.

“The Lord your God,
who is going before you,
will fight for you,
as He did for you in Egypt,
before your very eyes.”
-Deuteronomy 1:30

Abraham’s life was lived by faith. He never could’ve imagined what the future would hold for his descendants: that Joseph would go to Egypt, that the Egyptians would enslave the Israelites, that God would raise up Moses to deliver His people, and that God would lead His people BACK to the promised land… Abraham did not know what the future held, but he trusted God one step at a time & surrendered his future to God.

Sometimes we have expectations of the promised land: we place all our hope in a “dream destination” when God is trying to get our attention and say, “No place will ever be for you what only I can be. Even the place I call you to. If you are looking for fulfillment in a certain destination or achievement you will only live in constant let-down & disappointment. I AM the destination. Follow Me, My voice, & My leading. I AM the only One who will fulfill every longing and desire of your heart.“

Do you feel out of place where you are?
Are you scared of taking a step of faith into the unknown even though you know that God is calling you?
Have you obeyed the call of God to “GO” but now that you’ve arrived & it isn’t what you expected?
Are you struggling with disappointment or let-down?
Have you been ashamed to confess that you still have no idea what you’re doing?
Did you expect everything to suddenly make sense when you obeyed God’s voice; but it doesn’t?

Let me tell you: you’re not alone!! But I pray that you are encouraged, as am I, because I bet Abraham felt like us at times. But I also know that Abraham also understood something that changed everything — his whole heart’s desire was to be where God was. GOD was his Reward. The promise land was not the reward and it was not designed or created to fulfill Abraham — the promise land was where God would increase Abraham’s faith and develop a real, genuine, life-altering relationship with Abraham. THAT is why God called Abraham to the promised land and that is why God is calling us to walk by faith: because what we learn along the journey is of far greater value that any physical destination or possession.

As I read in Hebrews about Abraham’s faith I am reminded that his walk was not one of perfect submission and immediate obedience: his journey was filled with hasty, self-reliant decisions & he was a man who experienced fear, unbelief & doubt. But in Hebrews 11 there is no record of his failures. Isn’t that such a testimony of God’s amazing mercy & grace?!

I believe that God’s grace on Abraham’s life led him to live a life of worship and awe. His faith was in response to the indescribable grace God had shown him. He was a man God had set His affection upon: not because of anything Abraham had done, but simply because God loved him.

Like Abraham, God is calling each of us to a place He has prepared —  He calls us because that journey leads us into deeper faith and relationship with Him. The destination isn’t the goal. The relationship is. Faith and trust is the goal.

God is calling us to live as sojourners: people just passing through, walking by faith, living in response to our gracious Savior, on a journey to the place HE has prepared. A place where our faith shall be our eyes.

“Behold, I send an Angel before you:
to keep you in the way
& to bring you into the place
which I have prepared.”
-Exodus 23:20

"God has a final destination for Israel, but in between are steps: layers of conflict and battles, but He promises Israel that He will go before them and fight their battles for them. Every step of the way has been set by God, and one step leads to the next. Rarely do we see many steps ahead of us. We need to walk entirely by faith. But like God did for Israel: He prepares us one step at a time... As a Christian, I go forward under the power of the Holy Spirit, who is leading and preparing me for the path chosen for me... We may not know where we are going, but as long as we are following the Lord, we have nothing to fear. As we let go of our past, we can get a firm grip on the future God has for us. As we go along God's path, we will find all the provisions we need to be who God wants us to be so that we can arrive at the place God has prepared for us. By faith, each day we access God's provision for us. We never know what we will need, but God does and has made full provision. God has provided a cloud by day and a fire by night in order to get us to our destination." -A.W. Tozer