Chuck It

"Cast your burden on the Lord — releasing the weight of it — and He will sustain you; He will never allow the consistently righteous to be moved — made to slip, fall, or fail." — Psalm 55:22 Amplified

Several Bible translations urge us to "give" our burdens to the Lord. And that's good. But "cast" is a better word, because this is what comes to mind:

We fling it out there in the deep unknown, trusting that because He's grabbed it many times before, He'll do it at least one more time. Over and over, He proves Himself faithful and good, whether we barely have the strength to fling it or are stirred with a holy resolve and jet-fueled perseverance to cast it with triumphant faith.

The problem with this image, of course, is that the one casting always seems to be taking it back. Over and over again.

Yep, far too often, we're that guy. Or, in the words of Mrs. Cowman's Streams in the Desert:

"Genuine faith puts its letter in the mailbox and lets go. Distrust, however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the answer never arrives."

 

An even better image of "cast," then, might be this one:

Because the psalmist's definition of "cast" thinks outside the box. It implies not just give or hand over the burden, or even cast it in a reel-it-back-in fishing sort of way, but to chuck it entirely onto Him.

O God, You know how much we like the feel of that fishing rod with its grip and control, but if this is what Your Word says, help us to become this guy instead. Thank You that we never wear You out with our desperate pleas and sighs. And for that next weight du jour, help us to hold on for dear life only to the proof of Your faithfulness and goodness and Love to us over and over again, and then to chuck the weight of what's weighing us down all onto You — resting in the fact that, in spite of ourselves, Father knows best. Far less corner-of-the-envelope living...more no-strings-attached trust.

"This is God in His holy place
This is God clothed in love and strength...
Sing out, lift your voice and cry out
Awesome is our strong God, mighty is our God!" 

("Strong God"-Jon Egan, Jason Ingram, Meredith Andrews)