Heavy burdens

Hauling Rocks

I’ve been hauling a lot of rocks lately, both metaphorically and in my everyday life. It’s been teaching me a lot.

First, let me explain my weird desire to haul rocks. To fellow rock lovers out there, I don’t have to justify myself, but for the normal population, my obsession might not make sense. I have a forty-foot bed in my far back yard, mostly filled with butterfly attracting plants and other bushes and flowers. It’s not a refined English garden, it’s a wild, raucous mess of color and life. And in keeping with that theme, I’m using rock for weed control and to define certain areas of my beautiful mess.

My obsession doesn’t stop there. It has now moved into my landscaping around my deck. To see my most recent use of my beloved rocks, see my reel at @heather.n.roberts.

The obvious question is, where in the world is this woman getting that much rock? I’ve been hauling rock, carrying my heavy burdens (treasures) out from my walking trail and neighboring field in my trusty old backpack. I walk the trail two times every morning, carrying between three and five rocks of various sizes.

I’ve learned a thing or two. First, if you faithfully stick to a habit, the rewards will add up, and it will feel surprisingly fast after you look back on your results. Second, the daily picking up of your backpack of heavy burdens doesn’t get easier, but you have a newfound hope when you take time to look at what God’s accomplished. Carrying your heavy burdens every day without taking the time to look at the rewards God has graciously given will leave you feeling worn out, exhausted, hopeless, and discouraged. Don’t look at the individual rock and spend all your time and energy on futile calculations. Instead, spend your time and energy contemplating the results of His work in your life.

We all carry burdens. Sometimes we have days with only a smattering of sparkling pebbles, other days we’ve got an ugly concrete slab that feels like the same size as our bodies crushing the breath out of us.

We all need to take some quiet time and talk to the Lord about our burdens and ask, “Am I building a flower bed with these rocks or am I picking up hideous old concrete, a burden that was never mine to lift?” With this revelation from the Lord, we then can use our time and effort wisely.

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” (Psalm 68:19-20, NIV)

We need help to discern if our burdens or efforts are in line with God’s will or if we should drop them. Because there are things that require daily sacrifice to improve and see results, and there are things we THINK we need to control and manipulate into obedience when we have no business picking it up at all.

How do we know the difference? Sometimes it’s obvious when we take even a moment to look at what we’re hauling. Other times it has become such a habit we need God, and maybe even a trusted friend, to yell out to us, “Drop it.”

I hope you’re doing the daily work to build flower gardens. But if you find yourself face down with a concrete slab crushing the life out of you, know I’ve been there too.

Let’s pray. I’m feeling an unhealthy weight on me and I’m thinking I need some help to discern what to shrug off.

Prayer for you and me: Lord, help. We feel unhealthy pressure, burdens too heavy to carry, show us what we’re picking up that doesn’t belong to us. Remind us and show us the breathtaking gardens we’ve built under your guidance so that our awe of You might increase. Let us see Your steadfast faithfulness so that our burdens drop in the face of an Almighty God. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

“Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.” (Isaiah 25:1, NIV)