Today I will focus on the following part of the song, only a couple of lines but a lot to cover.
So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
Have you ever stopped to think about all of the burdens you might be carrying? The basic definition of a burden is that it is a heavy load that slows us down or drags us down in some way. Maybe we do not have a single massive burden such as an oxen might carry, but we have a lot of smaller things we carry that end up being a burden. We have a tendency to carry the past around with us, we carry worry about things we cannot change, we worry about our family, we are concerned about the future. Any one of these is a heavy load, but when combined they become a massive burden that none of us are able to manage. The end result is we make no progress on any of these because all of our time, energy, and spirit are spread across all of these worries. The only way we can make any progress and see that there is a future for us, is to take these burdens and drop them at the feet of Jesus.
Worry is the heaviest burden for most of us and Jesus addresses this for us in Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I realize this is a long passage of scripture, but if our greatest burden is worry; then it seems appropriate.
Part of the burden of the past we carry is shame and is also a burden of the present. We have hurt someone, we have not helped someone when we know we should have, and we are ashamed of certain actions that we took that were not appropriate. Perhaps we are ashamed to face God in our prayers because we did not stand up for him when we should have. We encounter situations where we should have spoken up and called out the wrong that was taking place, but we kept quiet. I am not suggesting that we put ourselves in a threatening situation, sometimes we send a message by walking away or perhaps standing alone for what we believe is God’s direction for us. If you think of your earthly father, isn’t it hard to tell him that you did not stand up for him today when people were criticizing him, laughing at him, and maybe not being willing to say in public how much you love him? We would be ashamed of ourselves, and we should feel the same way when we do not support our heavenly father. But all we need to do is confess our sins to him and he will forgive them, he does not want a wall between us at any time. He knows we are ashamed and that we were weak, but he still forgives us and loves us unconditionally. Remember that even the Apostle Peter denied Christ openly three times, yet he was forgiven and ended up becoming a strong leader of the early church.
What burdens and shame are you carrying that you need to give to the father so you can feel the peace that passeth all understanding? What is keeping you from letting go?