When we feel weary with the pressure of life, Jesus promises to carry the burden.
By Dennis Rainey
Does pressure ever get to you?
It gets to me.
Let me share a slice of our lives from my journal back when we were in the thick of raising our tribe, years ago:
A plumber has just informed me our house could explode due to a faulty gas line. A corner of the wallpaper has started peeling above the shower. Leaving for the office I hit every red light possible, arriving late. Walking into my office, an associate informed me of two urgent situations needing a decision. A three-inch pile of unanswered letters on my desk cried out for immediate attention.
PRESSURE.
Barbara was on the phone needing a decision from me on refinishing our ancient hardwood floors: "what color stain should we use? When should the floor man come? Should we do the kids’ closet? Who’s going to move the couch? (Remember it’s the one that has a queen size hide-a-bed in it)."
And if that wasn’t enough, the whole family, having just returned from eight weeks on the road, were leaving in 48 hours to speak at a family camp in California.
Barbara started sneezing. Ashley and Samuel chorused in, and by midnight one half of the Rainey Zoo had formed an asthma choir. And in less than eight hours we were to pack up ten very heavy suitcases and jump on a plane for family camp.
We prayed about cancelling. The next morning the lawn still needed mowing, the kids were still sick and Rebecca was crying for Cheerios. I had to get this tribe to the airport, but our bills were due and the paycheck hadn’t come. The phone rang as we locked the door, but we had to go or miss our plane. The kids chimed in unison, “Could you stop for doughnuts, daddy?” Secretly I thought, “Who needs family camp, hardwood floors, or doughnuts? This must be a sinister plot to overthrow my family!”
How do we live with pressure?
Stress. Pressure. We work under it. We are driven by it. We suppress it. We deny it and try to escape it. We take vitamins for it. The texts and emails relentlessly pour into our phones each demanding a decision. We feel it all in our chests. Our stomach churns. Our palms get sweaty.
The questions for all of us are: How do we live with it?
J. Hudson Taylor, the great pioneer missionary to China, has some great advice, “It matters not how great the pressure is, only where the pressure lies. If we make sure it never comes between us and our Lord, then the greater the pressure, the more it presses us to Him.”
But sometimes I want out from under pressure. Don’t you?
We often think less stress would be better (and sometimes that’s true—we need to say “NO” more and do less). However, many of us want less pressure from the things that are good for us to bear—like being responsible for the spiritual well-being of our family. Or like interviewing your daughter’s date and protecting her from evil. Or talking straight to your son about the lure of pornography and its impact on his life.
There can be positive effects from pressure. It is not pressure, but our response to pressure, that determines pressure’s impact on us.
Our response should be a prayer that says, “Increase the pressure rating of my soul and broaden my shoulders. Strengthen me, O Lord, to handle that which is coming into my life.” He will. He promised.
He will test us, but He will not break us.
In fact, here is His response to that prayer, from Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Only Jesus can promise that. Only Jesus can truly deliver.
A story about burdens
So how must we learn to view stress in our lives? Perhaps the burdens we desire to cast off are those that God wants to use in our lives to press us to Him—to cause us to grow spiritually and to trust Him. Totally. Completely. Without reservation.
The following story of Sadhu Sundar Singh, a Hindu convert to Christianity, beautifully illustrates how God wants to use burdens and heavy pressures in our lives.
Shortly after coming to Christ, Singh felt called to become a missionary to India. Late one afternoon Singh was traveling on foot through the Himalayas with a Buddhist monk. It was bitterly cold and the wind felt like a cold blade slicing into Singh’s skin. Night was fast approaching when the monk warned Singh that they were in danger of freezing to death if they did not reach the monastery before darkness fell.
Just as they were traversing a narrow path above a steep precipice, they heard a cry of help. Down the cliff lay a man, fallen and badly hurt. The monk looked at Singh and said, “Do not stop. God has brought this man to his fate. He must work it out for himself.” Then he quickly added while walking on, “Let us hurry on before we, too, perish.”
But Singh replied, “God has sent me here to help my brother. I cannot abandon him.”
The monk continued trudging off through the whirling snow, while the missionary clambered
down the steep embankment. The man’s leg was broken and he could not walk. So Singh took his blanket, made a sling of it, and tied the man on his back. Then, bending under his burden, he began a body-torturing climb. By the time he reached the narrow path again, he was drenched with perspiration.
Doggedly, he made his way on through the deepening snow. It was dark now and it was all he could do to follow the path. But he persevered, though faint with fatigue and overheated from exertion. Finally, he saw ahead the lights of the monastery.
Then, for the first time, Singh stumbled and nearly fell—but not from weakness. He had stumbled over some object lying in the snow-covered road. Slowly he bent down on one knee and brushed the snow off the object. It was the body of the monk, frozen to death.
Years later a disciple of Singh’s asked him, “What is life’s most difficult task?”
Without hesitation Singh replied, “To have no burden to carry.”
May the burdens you and your spouse carry press your hearts to Christ and merge you into one as you rightly respond to circumstances together. And consider doing this:
Tonight before retiring, why not spend a few moments in prayer together? As a couple, take those things which are pressuring you to the One whose burden is easy and whose yoke is light. Read James 1:2-8 and ask Him for wisdom in knowing how to respond to the most important pressures you are facing. Consider discussing what your options are in dealing with the issue. Then discuss how you might be able to avoid this kind of pressure in the future.
Copyright © by FamilyLife. Used with permission.
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