Weight Limit

Have you ever entered into an elevator with a lot of people and then noticed the maximum weight limit sign on the elevator?  You start looking at the people around you, sizing up their weight, and then trying to figure if you are close to the weight limit.  We probably don’t have to worry.  A typical elevator can carry between 2100-2500 lbs.

Sometimes, however, we do grow anxious about how much we can carry in our lives when it comes to our concerns, problems, uncertainties, and fears.  Life has a way of bearing down upon us, leaving us overwhelmed, beyond burdened, and weary of the weight of it all.

Many of us are tired.  Tired of living with the weight of the world upon our shoulders.  The stress of living in a broken world, that spares none us, has left up wondering how much more we can take.  The heavy weight upon our shoulders only mimics the heaviness of our hearts. Someone once said, “When the heart is down and the soul is heavy, the eyes can only speak the language of tears.” We have all done our share of crying.

In 1 Peter 5:7, we read, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”  Peter and the early Christians knew a lot about the weight of the world on their shoulders.  The early Christians lived under constant persecution, where suffering, pain, and death were day to day realities for them and their families.  They had a lot to worry about when it came to burdens.  Peter, however, called the people to remember that they could place all the weight of worry and anxiety upon the Lord because the Lord cared for them.

The apostle Paul also sought to encourage the early Christians as they struggled with the weight of the world upon their lives.  In his letter to the Church at Corinth Paul writes, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4: 8-9) Life can be heavy at times. However, we can cast it away, let it go, and let God lift us up where we belong.

Times have changed, but the burdens of this life are still heavy at times.  Yet, we do not need to carry them alone.  Rather, we can cast them upon the Lord, trust in the sufficiency of his grace, the strength of his power, and the tenderness of his love.  God never promised that life would be easy, carefree, and without a burden.  God did promise, however, that we could place the weight of the world upon him.  Indeed, God’s shoulders are the only ones that can carry it all.