006 - Psalm 27, Part II

My heart has felt heavier than normal the last couple of weeks.

I’ve heard a lot of people tell me the same. It’s as though a weight has settled over our country, a heaviness that is pressing down on each of us. Though we each may have different opinions, political preferences, and life experiences, it seems as though, right now, we’re all shouldering a burden unlike any other we’ve carried, and perhaps even heavier than this burden is the fact that we don’t know when or how it might ease.

I don’t know what burden is weighing on you today. Maybe it’s the burden over the recent racial injustices in our country.

Maybe it’s the burden that racial injustice as a whole is not a new thing.

Maybe you’re feeling a heaviness over the mistreatment of law enforcement officers who have upheld their duties to serve and protect, yet are being attacked anyway.

Maybe you’re watching the world shift its attention away from the pandemic, yet your reality is that it’s as much of a threat as ever.

Maybe you’re facing divorce, treatment for an illness, financial instability, or something else entirely that I can’t begin to understand.

Whatever burden you’re feeling, whatever heaviness is pressing into you, my prayer is that you would know you’re not alone. Your circumstances may be unique, but I think we can all agree that things have felt a bit dimmer recently.

Which is why I’m so grateful that God has again put Psalm 27:14 on my heart. Last time, we talked about what it means to be strong. But when our strength is gone, when it’s all we can do to simply survive, when things are getting worse and not better – what then?

Take Heart

When Jesus tells His disciples to take heart in the New Testament, it’s when their circumstances look a whole lot like ours do today. They’re afraid. They’re stuck. They’re burdened and broken, they’re weighed down by troubles and worries their strength can no longer sustain on its own.

When Jesus told them – and tells us – to take heart, He most often follows it with the assurance of His presence, His power, and the peace He offers to us. (Check out Matthew 14:27, Mark 10:49, and John 16:33 for some examples).

“Take heart” doesn’t mean pretend it isn’t happening. It doesn’t mean don’t be upset about it. It means that you can hope in your Savior that it won’t always be like this. It means that we can set our eyes not on the troubles around us, the burden above us, or the messiness behind us, but on the justice, the restoration, and the literal heaven that is in front of us.

It means that victory is certain, we aren’t struggling in vain, and one day, all things will be made entirely new. Not just a better version of how they are right now. Everything – our politics, our justice system, the way we see and treat other people, our immune systems, our marriages, our perception of money – will be made brand new.

It won’t be like this forever. The burden you’re feeling will be lifted. The best part is that you don’t have to wait for some distant day to feel the weight ease. Jesus wants to take what’s weighing you down from your shoulders today, right now.

It’s true that when times are hard, sometimes we have to be strong. But what Jesus knows is that our strength will only get us so far. And when we come to the end of our strength and still have so far to go, we can rely on Him to pick us up, burdens and all, and see us through. So take heart! He’s got this, and He’s got you. Allow your heart to unburden itself in His presence today.

---

Published in the 006 - June 9 issue of TuesdayTribe

Written by Hannah Hladek