The Lodestar

A line in the famous hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, asks, “Are we weak and heavy-laden, cumbered with a load of care?” Most of us would answer “Yes.” We carry heavy burdens on the journey of life. The longer we live, the heavier they grow. However, the Lord promises a light pilgrimage through this world.

When we stagger under the weight of life's cares and fears, the Lord promises stability: “He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” When life's troubles make us low, like the oxen pulling a heavy cart, “he will sustain us.”

However, no promise is actualised unless we appropriate it for ourselves; this is also futile unless we claim it for ourselves by obedience. The command is to “cast” our burdens upon the Lord.

The Hebrew word for “casting” is powerful. While walking on a sunny, humid afternoon with a heavy backpack and an empty water bottle, a kind truck driver stops for you. You then fling your bag to the back of the vehicle and join the driver in the cabin to reach your destination.

This imagery may help us understand what it means to cast our burden upon the Lord. Casting is not laying down slowly, not transferring gradually, not lightening the load, but flinging all our burdens over to the Lord and continuing our pilgrimage to eternity with him.

Do not carry what you were never meant to bear. Name your burdens today — your fears, your worries, your unseen weights — and fling them onto the Lord in prayer. He is strong enough to carry them and faithful enough to sustain you. Trust him and walk lighter.

Enjoy your journey with the Lord.