Remove the Burden

Secrets.  

Those precious secrets.  

Some secrets are tons o' fun--a new couple finds out they are expecting their first child and waiting to tell their parents the good news.  Parents waiting until the very last possible minute to tell their kids they are taking them to happiest place on earth.  Sweet secrets of girls about whom they are going to marry, aspirations, and dreams.

Other secrets are not so fun.  The teenage girl staring at the positive test.  The guy struggling with his addictions.  The person looking for a way to start over.

The secrets of our past that haunt us like inconsiderate ghosts.  

The shame.  The mistakes.  The loss of things treasured.  Words spoken in anger and hurt. The resentment.  The attacks on our pride.  The things that would leave us naked and exposed if others found out.  

These are the burdens we carry with us every single day.  Things we put on our shoulders and walk around with--afraid that if we set them down, we risk the chance of someone snooping through our bags.  We drag them behind us, we lug them around, we bring them to dinners and dates and work and experiences.  We stuff them deep into our saddle bags and do our very best to keep them contained.  They become our 5th wheels and they hold us back when we want to run with abandon.  

The past can be a terrible burden.  

We tend to our burdens like Smeagol tended to his Precious (and LOTR fans out there?)  The very things that we want to keep safe and hidden are the very things that are slowly killing us.  These burdens take all of our joy and satisfaction out of life as we struggle to keep them to ourselves.  Our secrets suffocate us, they rob us of living life to the fullest, and we are so afraid to let them go. 

However, I've learned that when you open that bag of burden for a moment and share your heart with a trusted person, it's almost like the burden disappears into thin air.  When you find yourself exposed, despite the initial horror and embarrassment, that burden can no longer haunt you.  The very things that we struggle to keep under wraps, are the things we can only rid ourselves of them through exposure.  

The Lord removed the burden from His people when He led them out of Egypt.  He protected them from the Passover and while they wandered through the desert.  Psalm 81:7 reminds us of His promise to His people "In your distress you called and I rescued you."  If we are also His people, won't He do the same for us?  Won't He rescue us from our past and the fear of exposure?

Hasn't He already done so much more? 

Are you in need of rescue?  Are you in need of lightening your load?  Do you have things you need to confess?  Do you need someone to remove the burden?

Talk to Him.  Talk to them.  

Share your secrets.  

Remove the burden. 

And your load will become a little lighter.