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This Box Is Too Heavy
Jon Burgess“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NIV
The Church was under persecution. Families were being torn apart, jobs taken, lives lost all because of their faith in Christ. It's easy to doubt God's care for us when our circumstances slap us in the face convincing us we have been abandoned by Him. Peter is encouraging the believers to not try and do this by their own strength (pride), but by the hand of God who will "lift you up in due time" (5:6).
I've been lifting a lot myself this week by my own strength. You see, we are moving from Kaneohe to Aina Haina and therefore need to pack up the whole house. I had no idea idea how much I had until I had to make it all fit in a box and then lift that box to another location. We have moved three times in the past three years. The move from Seattle to Kona and Kona to Oahu was handled by professional movers. As this move to the East side of Oahu is a personal choice to downsize so we can eventually buy a home here we are handling the move ourselves. We have realized quite quickly we can't do it ourselves. Cyndi and I are finding ourselves stressed out and maxed out. This is box is too heavy to lift. So it is with many things we are called to do in life. So, this verse couldn't have come at a better time. We decided this morning we would make this our theme verse for the move. We aren't under persecution of course. We aren't dying for our faith as many Christians are around the world. We are, however, faced with a daily choice to be crushed by the weight of that which we cannot carry or to cast our cares on Him. He won't do it for us. The great news is, if we do the casting He will do the carrying.
Today, I'm inviting the Professional Mover, Jesus Christ, to move me from anxiety to authority, from stress to strength, from hectic to humble, from panic to peace. I love how the Phillips translation renders this verse: "You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern."Lord, you literally opened the door for this house in Aina Haina to answer our prayers to save money. You care for our future here on Oahu and are with us in the present decisions we are making to position ourselves for permanency here. You have brought us help from our New Hope Ohana to move everything over to the other side of the island. This is too heavy for me but is light weight for You! You have made me your personal concern so I'm making You my primary focus.
