What’s Weighing You Down?

Recently, following a bad ice storm, I was traveling from Atlanta to North Carolina. As I traveled up the interstate, I noticed a lot of trees had fallen and many pine trees were leaning. The weight of the ice had caused many trees to fall, break, or bend. Highway crews were still clearing the trees, limbs and other debris from the storm.

As I continued traveling north into the Carolinas, I observed the same scene and it got me to thinking. Many times we live like these trees. We’re not weighed down by ice, but we are weighed down by so many other things that come into our lives. It could be a health crisis, or a situation at work. It could be guilt from a past failure. It could be a troubled marriage or a strained relationship with a child. It could be any number of things…you fill in the blank.

Although we can’t do anything about those bent pine trees, we can do something about those things that are weighing us down. The psalmist instructs us, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22). So whatever is weighing you down take it to the Lord and allow Him to sustain you. You can always trust Him to hold you up no matter what’s weighing you down.

A Matter of Surrender

A few centuries before Christ, Alexander the Great conquered almost all of the known world with his military strength, cleverness, and diplomacy. One day Alexander and a small company of soldiers approached a strongly defended, walled city. Alexander, standing outside the walls, raised his voice, demanding to see the king.

The king, approaching the battlements above the invading army, agreed to hear Alexander’s demands. “Surrender to me immediately,” commanded Alexander. The king laughed and asked, “Why should I surrender to you? We have you far outnumbered. You are no threat to us!” Alexander responded, “Allow me to demonstrate why you should surrender.” Alexander ordered his men to line up single file and start marching. He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff that dropped hundreds of feet to rocks below.

The king and his soldiers watched in shocked disbelief as, one by one, Alexander’s soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths. After ten soldiers had died, Alexander ordered the rest of his men to stop and return to his side. The king and his soldiers surrendered on the spot to Alexander the Great. The king and his soldiers realized that nothing would stop the eventual victory of men actually willing to give their lives for their leader.¹

Alexander’s men were surrendered. It’s clear from a careful study of God’s Word that true followers of Christ are also surrendered. In fact, Jesus made it very clear when He said to His followers, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). What does it look like to be surrendered?

We stop pleasing self. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves. Deny means to disregard our own interests. What a contrast to our culture where it’s all about “me.” Our culture seeks to gratify self but Christ-followers seek to glorify God. After all, as Christ-followers we follow Jesus’ example. When Jesus was on earth He didn’t please Himself, He pleased His Father (John 4:34; John 8:29; Romans 15:3).

We yield our total self. Jesus instructs us to take up our cross daily. Taking up our cross daily points to self-denial and even exposure to death. In other words, it costs something to be a true follower of Christ. We daily yield all to Christ’s lordship. We yield our whole heart and our entire life to Him. We love Him above everyone else. We put Him before everything else in our lives. We live for and serve Him. (See Matthew 6:33; Mark 10:17-22 ; 12:30; Romans 12:1, 11)

We go with our Savior. Jesus said, "follow Me." Follow means to move quickly and go with (Mark 1:16-20; 2:14). Jesus is not referring to an occasional or temporary following. He’s referring to total commitment; an exclusive relationship with Him (John 15:1-11). To go with our Savior means that we follow His leading, His example, His life (Luke 22:41-42; Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus said that “My sheep hear My voice; and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Surrender requires sacrifice. It could require some type of a lifestyle change, a career change, or a change in a relationship. It could even require a relocation. But Jesus would never ask us to do something that He Himself has not already done. He would never ask us to give up something that He Himself has not already given up. He set the example of what surrender really is: He denied Himself, He took up His cross daily, and He obediently followed God the Father.

Why should we surrender all, making it a life-time pursuit to be a devoted follower of Christ? It’s only when we surrender our lives completely to Him that we begin to live life to its fullest as He intended for us to live! Jesus said, For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:24-25).

There’s no greater adventure than living for and following after Christ. But it requires absolute surrender. We must stop pleasing self, yield our total self, and go with our Savior. We surrender all to Christ’s lordship. It’s a matter of surrender!

 

¹ Rice, Wayne. Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks (El Cajun, CA: Youth Specialties, 1994), 22-23.

Never On Our Own!

A little boy was spending Saturday morning playing in his sandbox with his cars and trucks, plastic pail, and a shiny, red, plastic shovel. While creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand he discovered a large rock in the middle of his sandbox. He dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. He pushed and nudged the large rock across the sandbox with his feet. However, when he got the large rock to the edge of the sandbox he couldn’t roll it up and over the side wall.

Determined, he shoved, pushed, and pried, but each time he thought he had made some progress, the large rock tipped and fell back into the sandbox. Finally, after repeatedly trying and failing, the little boy burst into tears of frustration.

The little boy’s dad had been watching from the living room window as the drama unfolded. As soon as his son burst into tears, the dad ran to the sandbox. Gently, but firmly, the dad said. “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength you had available?” The boy replied, “But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!” The dad kindly replied, “No, son. You didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t ask me.” With that, the dad reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.¹

How often are we like that little boy, trying to do things on our own? When it comes to living the Christian life we too often try to live on our own. I have good news. If you are a true disciple of Jesus then you are never alone and never on your own. Jesus told His disciples: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you(John 14:16-17). True disciples of Jesus are never alone and never on our own because we have the Holy Spirit living in us. So what does it mean to have the Holy Spirit living in us?

1. We have God’s presence in us.

Jesus tells us that the Spirit is with us forever and dwells with us. He remains with us. He abides with us. He lives with us. He’s continually with us. Jesus also tells us that the Spirit is in us. The Holy Spirit is our permanent resident. True disciples of Jesus are never alone; therefore, never on our own because we have the Spirit of God—His presence with us.

2. We have God’s power available to us.

Just before Jesus returned to heaven He told His disciples: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you… (Acts 1:8). Since the Holy Spirit, our Helper, lives in us we have His power available to us, and His power is incredible. His power was evidenced at creation—He created something out of nothing. His power was evidenced by Jesus’ miracles—He caused the blind to see, the mute to speak, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, the bleeding to stop, the demons to flee, the dead to rise. His power was evidenced when Jesus died on the cross and then on the third day came back to life, conquering death and the grave. True disciples of Jesus are never alone; therefore, never on our own because we have the Spirit of God—His presence with us and His power available to us.

3. We have God’s provision to be all He wants us to be.

According to Jesus, the Spirit is our Helper. As our Helper, He enables us to be and to do all that God wants us to be and to do. As our Helper, He is in the process of conforming us to the image of Christ. He’s producing in us the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

As our Helper, the Holy Spirit is guiding us. Jesus said, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come (John 16:13). The Spirit not only helps us to understand the truth of God’s Word but also helps us make decisions based on the truth of God’s Word. In other words, He helps us flesh out the Word in our lives! True disciples of Jesus are never alone; therefore, never on our own, because we have the Spirit of God—His presence with us, His power available to us, and His provision to be all He wants us to be.

In their book, How People Grow, Henry Cloud and John Townsend write, “The Spirit-filled life is a supernatural life that surpasses our strengths and abilities.” ² In other words, we can’t do it on our own. Like the little boy with the large rock in his sandbox, living the Christian life is too big for us to go it on our own. God knew that, and that’s why He did not leave us alone!

As Jesus’ disciples we’re never alone so we’re never on our own! Stop trying to live on your own. Surrender to the Spirit of God, allowing Him to fill and empower you each day to live the life He’s called us to live.

¹ Rice, Wayne. Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks (El Cajun: Youth Specialties, 1994), 36-37.
² Henry Cloud & John Townsend, How People Grow (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 103.