As human beings, most of us are pretty good at amassing cares and burdens. We gather them like a scout collects badges and wear them proudly as though carrying such a heavy load makes us more godly. It doesn’t.

Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22 (NLT)

This verse reminds me of a song from my childhood. If you grew up in church in North America, you may have had the opportunity to get to know Psalty the Singing Songbook. He was pretty cool back in the day. Now he’s moderately terrifying. But in one episode of Kid’s Praise, there are a couple of campers who have become lost in the woods at night (45:45 in the video). Instead of panicking, they break out into song. Who wouldn’t? The amazing thing is, a lot of those little songs I learned as a kid still stick with me as an adult. This one still goes through my head when I find myself under the weight of cares of collected.

I cast all my cares upon You
I lay all of my burdens
Down at Your feet
And any time
I don’t know
What to do
I will cast all my cares upon You

We weren’t created to be beasts of burden. We were created to a have a dependence on God. He is more than willing to carry those things that are too heavy for us. He wants to. But we have to let Him.

Again, it comes down to humility. We need to admit that what we carry is to much for us. There is no shame in that.

My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)

In the same chapter, Paul goes on to say, for when I am weak, then I am strong. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. Even though popular culture would spurn the idea of admitting weakness, that is exactly where we are at our strongest.

But God is my helper.
The Lord is the one who keeps me alive!

Psalm 54:4 (NLT)

When we, like the lost campers, cast our cares on God and lay our burdens at His feet, we make room for His strength to shine through. The load is lifted and we can live life the way we were meant to live it—with a complete dependence on our Creator, free from heavy burdens.

So take off your badge of burden. Give it to the Lord. He is your helper. He will take care of you.

Daily Bible reading: Psalm 53-55, Acts 27:16-44