Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice. (1Kings 19:11-12)

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Where Do You Cast Your Burden? {Words of Life Wednesdays ~ Link-up}

{Join us below for Words of Life Wednesdays with a link-up of your post.
We'd love to hear how God's Word has been nourishing you.}



I share from my heart about my very own heart.

It's ugly and raw and I just want to run and hide under the covers.

I left words lying around out in the open and I feel exposed.

I process internally and I'm paralyzed in fear.

The weight of it all makes me weak.

I stager in a haze of uncertainty and want to go to the hills where they are supposed to be alive with sweeter music.

The noise and the choices and the inside voices are too deafening, too difficult, too disconcerting.



Life is not alway pretty packages and raindrops on roses.

Life is hard and women are oppressed, and children are starved for food and love, and diseases take our loved ones and the lives we plan for our families.

The Fall has made us all fallen ones.

The serpent speaks lies and prowls around seeking those whom he may devour.

Life is messy. Marriages implode leaving behind a bloody mess. Families break inducing painful fractures. Mothers labour long and forget how to breath grace. Fathers work hard and forget how to build trust.

Along this road I get lost in the pain and the anxious care.

I write to get the mess of mangled thoughts out; to understand what I've seen and heard and felt and smelled and tasted. To know what I don't know. To understand what I do. To accept what I cannot change. To talk to my own soul and tell it to hope and trust.

The Way of Redemption makes us hoped-filled ones.

The Son of Man has crushed the serpent's head and came "to seek and to save the lost."

I feast on the Gospel to know the way.

I taste the Good News to know the truth.

I eat the Word to know life.

I need the Way, the Truth and the Life to help me when I lose my footing on the way, when I stumble with the truth, and when I lose hope in this life.

Charles Spurgeon, known as the prince of preachers, was a man who knew pain and suffering, but he sought and proclaimed truth, he nourished his soul in the presence of God, and He fixed His eyes on the Eternal Father. He knew what he was talking about when he wrote:


" . . . the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God and the thrusting of ourselves into His place to do for Him that which He has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to thing of that which we fancy He will forget; we labor to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to His plain precept, this unbelief in His Word, this presumption in intruding upon His province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of god as our counselor and resorting instead to human wisdom . . . Anxiety makes us doubt God's lovingkindness, and this our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him; but if through simple faith in His promises, we cast each burden as it comes upon Him and are 'careful for nothing' because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him and strengthen us against much temptation. 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stay on thee, because he trusteth in thee.'"
Moment by moment I must lift up my eyes to the hills.

My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

If He who never slumbers or sleeps, sustains all things by His powerful word, then I can rest in Him.

I run and hide, when I need to rest and trust.

So I throw back the covers, and looking to Jesus, casting my care again and again upon him, knowing that He is with me. 


I share to encourage others to look to Jesus along with me.
"[H]e created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power."
He is our hope.

He is our help.

He is the Way.

He is the Truth.

He is the Life.

12 comments:

  1. Rebekah, this is my first visit to your blog. I have come here through a link-up. Might I just say that I am so glad that God led me here today. This is a powerful post, and it spoke deeply to my heart. I am a worrier. And my *anxious care* is a battle that I constantly fight. I was greatly encouraged to read that I'm not alone. And yes, in the end, worrying does exhibit a lack of trust in God's abilities. I continue to pray that He will give me the courage to rely on Him fully. For indeed, I do trust Him - I just need help in letting go...

    GOD BLESS!

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  2. I, too, get so lost in the pain and anxious care. It tears me up that I don't trust God more, but it gets so difficult sometimes. Like you, "I need the Way, the Truth and the Life to help me when I lose my footing on the way, when I stumble with the truth, and when I lose hope in this life." Thank you so much, Rebekah, for making me feel less alone today. Praying with you that we keep looking to Jesus, casting our cares on Him again and again. He is so loving and patient with us, isn't He?

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  3. That drive to share and be open is a strong one, but the one that follows to go run and hide is also strong. I can relate to what you have written here. I am glad you keep sharing and are brave enough to come out of hiding, or to not go into it.

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  4. So beautiful. Thank you for this incredible reminder. You are brave. ~Jenna

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  5. Visiting from Simply Beth today - very powerful and deep thoughts written here. He really is all we need.

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  6. "I share to encourage others to look to Jesus along with me." My friend, you do this and so much more. I have truly been blessed by you and am so grateful to call you friend. Thinking of you. In my prayers. Much love.

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  7. "we labor to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us." This is so true - and He is so willing, but He wants us to freely give Him our burdens. Thank you, Rebekah, for reminding us to "look to the hills" - that is one of my favorite Psalms.

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  8. To talk to my own soul and tell it to hope and trust.I'm right there with you Rebekah. Making sense of this life of faith by writing the vision. Thanks for joining us at #GiveMeGrace this week.

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  9. Hi, Rebekah: So sorry you feel so much pain. We don't have any answers except the one - Jesus. Thanks for being so truthful and honest in your sorrow. God will provide. He is faithful to keep His promises. And He is smiling right now at you and how your words are touching the lives of so many.

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  10. Beckah, As you said, we must feast on His word so that we can see in truth. It is only through Him that we can get proper perspective. He is our way, truth and life. We must rest in Him. Thank you for this encouragement. You may also like this poem http://bit.ly/1p2s6q9

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  11. Rebekah, may we always lift our eyes to the hills from where our help comes. So grateful this morning as I realized we each may be looking at a different hill but the very same Help! Praising Him for His help!

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  12. Such great encouragement here, Rebekah! I'm so glad you shared it with Testimony Tuesday. Grateful for the Help available to all of us.

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