Dear Reader

We are just fellow-pilgrims going to heaven, and this issue is offered to you of precious truth and aid we have been finding on the way.

I was in the midst of a heavy battle just yesterday, and I found renewed courage after rereading the article “Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence.”

I was spending the majority of the day outdoors, burning small branches, some blown down in winter storms, and some from pruning around our place, as well as a few rotting boards from an old pigeon coop. I had finally gotten everything either burned up or on the burn pile, and I was watching the fire, when the thought came to me that a stack of debris the size of a haystack was all being reduced to the equivalent of a trash can or two of ashes, and a great deal of energy (heat) was being released in the process.

That night I went to prayer meeting, and the devil was endeavouring to press me down again, when an allegory was shared concerning casting all our cares on the Lord.

A man… was toiling along the road, bending under a heavy burden, when a wagon overtook him, and the driver kindly offered to help him on his journey. He joyfully accepted the offer, but when seated, continued to bend beneath his burden, which he still kept on his shoulders.

“Why do you not lay down your burden?” asked the kind-hearted driver.

“Oh!” replied the man, “I feel that it is almost too much to ask you to carry me, and I could not think of letting you carry my burden too.”

[Hannah W. Smith; The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, “The Life Defined”]

Such foolish logic—but if we as God’s children attempt to continue to carry our burdens after He has carried us into His kingdom instead of giving them to the Lord, we are just as foolish.

At this point, the Lord brought back to my mind the scene by the burn pile that afternoon, and told me that He meant for me to throw all my burdens into the spiritual burn pile by giving them to Him, and that He would not only “burn them up,” but that He could do a great deal of good with them (lots of energy, see?) if I gave them to Him, whereas I couldn’t do any good by keeping them. I immediately asked for prayer that I would be able to apply this truth effectively in my life. Indeed, the Lord had already been gracious in our meeting and lifted the burdens from my heart.

How marvelous the timing of the Lord is, for within minutes of the end of our prayer time, I had opportunity to put this to the test again. I received a phone call, informing me that one of my brothers, who was not saved, had committed suicide. The devil was quick to put in his “if onlys” and “what ifs,” and as I said, I had an opportunity to carry a stack of branches (burdens) again to the spiritual burn pile. I have been taking them to Him, and I am persuaded He will do a great deal of good with them in His hands.

Dear friends, we have only weakness and the common lot of troubles in this life if we were trying to offer to you our own resources. But we have a God who is able to do great things in us, for us, and through us, and we commend to you the riches of His grace! Let us humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, who will exalt us in due time!

Love and prayers,
The Editor