the Burden

I saw a woman bent under a weighty Burden, staggering up a hill toward a clouded sky. When she turned her head to look once over her shoulder, I saw that the face was mine.

Atop the hill was a cross, and on the cross a Man upon whose face she could not bear to look. His blood dripped down down into the dust on which she walked.

As she walked she cried aloud Why, why if you are suffering for me am I bearing this weight? Have I not brought to you my Sin-Burden and laid it at your feet long ago? And every day I bring you more, my pride and shame and stumbles, each a load I release before your mercy? What is this great Burden still upon my back, Lord?

In my mind and hers we heard answer. It is not your sin you carry, love, but your Care. Wrapped in its heavy folds is everything you obsess over, every situation you manage for yourself, every person whose happiness you take upon your shoulders. Your Burden is friendships wrapped in fear, children wrapped in overprotection, dread of what others will think, timetables with which you torment yourself, worries for the future, lists and unchecked boxes and all the things you wish you could undo. It is a ponderous weight. Can you not let it go?

I saw her stumble forward, saw her hands fumble at the straps that bound the Burden to her.

Please, please take it for me, she said, and her tears and his blood were one in the dust. The load fell hard against his cross and he smiled. It seemed to me that the woman fell also, yet I saw she was not falling but shrinking down, down until caught like a crumpled leaf on a breath of wind she rose toward him, flew into the wound above his heart and was held in perfect love, no longer the Carrier but the Carried.

His blood dripped down onto the burden.

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6 years ago

Thank you. I needed this reminder.

LuAnn Peters
6 years ago

Beautiful, thankyou for sharing!

Kimberly Glenn
6 years ago

Oh my, this is what I needed to hear. It went straight to my heart. Thank you!

Anna Nisley
6 years ago

Thank you, Shari, for speaking the power of the Father’s love. The cares of this world are nothing when we ponder the splendor of Heaven.

6 years ago

I know I’m not supposed to comment on your writing style, but please forgive me this once. Your second-to-last paragraph sent shivers down my spine. Absolutely exquisite.

But don’t worry, the message of this piece definitely resonates with me. I’ve been carrying the burden of difficult relationships, and I’m so ready to drop it and be Carried instead.

Yvonne
6 years ago

Thank you, Shari. I am that woman too–and want to rest myself in Jesus. What a beautiful and timely reminder . . . God bless you for sharing this vision with us.

6 years ago

Shari, your words wring my heart with tears of comfort and grace!! 🙂

6 years ago

That woman is me. That burden mine. Thank you for reminding me to make it His.

Veronica Mast
6 years ago

Thank you so much for sharing this!! I really, really needed this. God Bless you!

Cheryl
6 years ago

This moved me. Yes, I so often am bowed under a load of care, much of it things you mentioned. I suppose in many ways, we women are a lot alike.
Thankful for His love and compassion for us!

Carolyn K
6 years ago

Yes, Shari, Yes!! This is so powerful for me to remember. And the freedom that is mine when I remember these words, the freedom is so… well, freeing!! (Please don’t ask me to diagram that sentence.) Right now I am grappling with a relationship. There seems to be tension and yet I do not know if I have done something. Yesterday I prayed that God would take my burden of wanting the approval of others. It was such a beautiful feeling to place that burden in His hands, to allow Him to work in that person’s life as well as my own and to surrender my demand to know what is going on. I can trust Him to show me when I need to repent and I can trust Him to give me peace when I am not in the wrong. Ugh, is any of this making sense?

Heather Nicodemus
6 years ago

This piece touched my heart.

Treva Eicher
6 years ago

I want to add a comment because this impacted me, but I’m not sure what to say. I feel wordless after reading this- and emotional. Laying down my burden is something I am just in the baby stages of learning… having this word picture is so powerful and helpful.

6 years ago

So much Yes to this.

Gladys
6 years ago

Shari, this is powerful. God bless you for writing.

Luci
6 years ago

Tears. Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you, Shari.

(And I read through your last posts and the comments with great interest. I want to blog and say THINGS. And I want to comment on your posts. But the basement is a disaster. So is the garage. And the windows are dirty. And May is full of company. But I do so love you.)

Sonya
6 years ago

I missed the official “delurking” awhile back, but I just wanted you to know that this post was so beautiful. I too struggle with this great burden, concerning my children, our family business, being a pastor’s wife, neighborhood mama, and a friend to a struggling alcoholic. Thank you for sharing.

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