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When we become members of the Church, we covenant to take upon ourselves certain responsibilities. We promise to comfort those who stand in need of comfort and mourn with those that mourn. We agree to the sacramental covenants, then Priesthood or YW's covenants, then temple covenants—as well as various callings within the Church's organizational structure. Although these things are meant to bring us growth and understanding and joy, in a very real sense they are “burdens” we agree to carry.
Psalms 55:22 says, in part: “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee.”
Ether 12:27 says: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
Matthew 11:28–30 says, in part: “Take my yoke upon you.”
Here is what I learned a few months ago as I prepared a talk for church: The concepts in these three verses constitute a complete solution; without the first and second, the third is impossible.
In simple terms, the Lord wants us to cast our own burdens at His feet and pick up those that He knows will give us strength and bring eternal life. Please take a moment to create that mental picture. Envision yourself removing a pack from your back or shoulders, setting it aside, then picking up a new pack to carry instead. If we fail to leave our own natural burdens with Him, then all we do when we assume the responsibilities of membership in His kingdom is to pick up a second pack and increase a load we already are unable to bear alone.
Each of us needs to figure out what this means in our own lives, with our own personalities and struggles, but, at a minimum, we need to accept His atoning grace and quit beating ourselves up over our natural weaknesses and tendencies—those things for which He has paid the price already. We need to recognize and accept the forgiveness He has offered already for those things we did not choose but simply inherited as a result of the Fall. We need to believe Him and what He has promised us.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by guilt or inadequacy or the burdens of your life, may I suggest a simple solution—not an easy one and not one that always will happen completely and all at once, but the only one of which I know that truly will work. Find a quiet place, where you can kneel totally alone and unable to hear anything else, and pour out your soul to your Heavenly Father—able to approach Him directly because of the grace of His Son. Tell Him of your anxieties, your fears, your weakness, your pain—then ask Him to take the burden from you and help you walk away from it. Repeat that request (something like, “I gave it to you; please help me leave it at your feet.”) whenever you begin to feel overwhelmed—even if it means you have to do so sometimes in the middle of the confusion and chaos of your daily life. Take a deep breath, close your eyes if you can, and ask Him to intercede once more and keep you from picking up your natural load.
I have a deep and abiding testimony that if you cast your burdens upon the Lord, He truly will sustain you as you shoulder His yoke and begin to carry the burden He has chosen to make your weakness become strength.
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
That’s an interesting concept… trading our burdens for the ones the Lord chooses for us… I would much rather carry His load than mine! Thanks for sharing.
I liked the way you put this, Ray. Thanks for your thoughts.
So, Alison, I should comment on the others first, then comment on this one – so that this one stays at the top of the list. Got it; thanks. *grin*
okay, this is giving me some vicious food for thought, Ray. Are you mainly talking about personality defects here or those things over which we have no control or do you think this is possible even with the daily burdens of life? Are you saying that he could take our daily burdens and give us his to strengthen us instead? Like maybe dealing with my children isn’t what’s going to strengthen me but some other job he has for me? Am I trying to apply this too literally? I’m afraid I am feeling overwhelmed at the moment at all of the hard things in our life that just don’t seem to get better no matter how we try to be better or do better.
jennycherie, Great questions. I’ll do my best, given my limited understanding of the big picture.
1) I believe it is a core aspect of the Atonement to provide us someone to whom we can symbolically “cast our burdens at His feet” – and that MANY of those burdens are a natural result of mortality. In other words, much of what weighs us down with grief and sorrow are things that are outside our total control – things we didn’t choose and that simply are a neurological or emotional or psychological outgrowth of our hereditary lineage.
2) For example, nearly all physicians now recognize and believe that there is a genetic component to alcoholism – that some people are **genetically** pre-disposed to become alcoholic when exposed to it. (Hence, the “weakest of the weak” wording of the Word of Wisdom that, essentially, says most people need to obey it in order to protect those who can’t handle moderation – who will destroy their lives from drink one.) What I’m saying is that someone who is genetically pre-disposed to alcoholism and who develops alcoholism without the benefit of the Word of Wisdom can’t be held accountable for that alcoholism – and that it has been covered by the grace of God. Recognizing that reality is the first core concept of AA – that somethings simply cannot be tackled on our own, especially those things that are our “biggest” weaknesses.
3) I was planning on posting something next week about looking at repentance in a whole new light, based off of a proper understanding of grace, but feel free to read it now from my own blog. You can find it here. (I will post something else next week instead.)
Sometimes my brain simply hiccups.
4) Therefore, the central concept of the “Good News” that constitutes the Gospel is that we will be held accountable ONLY for those things over which we DO have control – and that even in those areas, we will be held accountable ONLY for those things with which we refuse to turn to Him and beg for help – no matter if we ever conquer those things in this life.
5) OUR burdens are those things that burden us naturally – those things that keep us from focusing on becoming a new person through the grace of God. Letting go of those things and focusing on new things is the key, imo, to becoming – and that process of letting ago and refocusing is what constitutes true repentance. (Again, linked here.)
jennycherie, I think we need to remember that by casting our burdens at His feet, they will not be removed… he will just help us carry them. I don’t know if this is what Ray is talking about, but this is one of the ways I look at things. We are letting Him help us carry these loads that we just can’t carry alone, such as being patient with our children, and we are also picking up His load… the things he has asked us to do. By carrying His load that He desires for us, I think our “muscles” grow and we are better able to handle all burdens that we are asked to carry, or that we are made to carry “naturally”.
This is what I have found to be true in my life. I am a very visual learner, and I know a few years back I was carrying a burden that was heavy for me, and during that time I visited Temple Square in SLC, and at the Visitor Center they had an actual Yoke on display that is used on oxen. It hit me like a “ton of bricks” in a very visual way how Christ can be yoked with us and shoulder our heavy loads right with us. It was very helpful at the time for me. I really appreciate your thoughts, missbrown, as well as Ray’s insightful blogs, and getting us all thinking about and discussing this! Thank you! Thank you!:smile:
missbrown and lisa,
I think we under-estimate the “Redeemer”‘s ability to take our burdens from our minds and spirits – to take away the anxiety and guilt and grief and pressure they otherwise can bring. If we admit that there might be some things that we simply will die still not having conquered fully – AND THAT’S OK since he paid for them, then it is possible for us to begin the process of letting go of that anxiety and guilt and grief and pressure.
YES, in many cases he will make us stronger while we continue to shoulder our responsibilities, but “responsibilities” does not have to equal “burdens“. That’s my main point.
jennycherie, you said, “I am feeling overwhelmed at the moment at all of the hard things in our life that just don’t seem to get better no matter how we try to be better or do better.”
I have spent most of the past 3.5 years feeling this way. Wondering when the light at the end of the tunnel was going to appear… and then when it finally did, when I was finally going to actually *reach* it! My mom paraphrases a quote by Elder Packer that basically states that sometimes we need to take a step or two into the darkness before He shows us the light. At times I hold onto that with a fierce amount of hope!! I may not understand all the whys of our challenges, but I do know He knows and loves me and won’t leave me stranded. I just have to keep holding onto my hope and faith, and continue to trust Him. Sometimes that’s the hardest part of enduring well to the end.
Know that you are not alone in being overwhelmed! Situations may be different, but I think I can safely state that most (all?) of us at MM have been where you seem to be now. Don’t give up! Keep trying!
Ray, thanks for your thoughts on sharing our burdens with our Redeemer. Because of my guilt complex and my self-inflicted pressure to be “perfect,” I know you have the opportunity to remind me of this often and in person, but I still need to see it in print to review it on my own frequently — and it helps to read others’ comments as well!
Awesome Ray, I’ve never thought about it the way you put it.
Jenn–as far as your questions go– if you’re applying Ray’s thoughts too literally– I don’t think so.
Here’s an example– I THINK this is what he’s saying.
Let’s say we’re talking about financial struggles. If we’re doing all we can to get out of debt, cutting the fat, trimming out the excess, sticking to a budget, no frills, no cable TV, etc, etc, we STILL can be struggling. We’re doing all we can, and the rest is out of our control.
So you lay that at His feet, and trust Him to carry you through.
But then we pick up His, the ones he wants us to have— like tithing and fast offerings. Those are “burdens” so to speak, that he asks us to bear. That extra money could be paying off a credit card, the car, making double payments on the mortgage– we all might be living easier, getting out of debt faster, paying off our loans faster, saving money on interest,etc, if we weren’t carrying that “burden”.
But that’s a burden that strengthens (and tests) our faith. It builds the kingdom, feeds others, and proves our commitment.
If we’re faithful in taking upon us that burden, we’re strengthened by Him, he helps us to do it, even when it might otherwise seem impossible. Then, we’re blessed for having done so.
That’s a good example, ftm – frankly, one that I hadn’t put in this context, so – Thanks.
Let me give you another one:
I know a family where the father preached against immorality in such a way that the message was, “All boys have raging hormones and need to suppress their sinful inclinations.” I know for a fact that this father faced this particular temptation (without ever succumbing to it), so it is “understandable” that he would think this way, but his sons ended up seeing their “immoral thoughts” – their very natural urges – as sinful, instead of natural effects of the Fall. Therefore, they were wracked as teenagers with feelings of inadequacy and failure and guilt every time they saw a girl and even thought, “Dang, she’s hot!” They each ended up convinced that they could never be good enough – and they couldn’t based on their Law of Moses definition of perfection.
Recognizing that such a thought is not actually a sin – that at its very worst it is a transgression caused by our fallen state and at its best solid evidence of heterosexual tendencies (grin) – and turning to the Lord for help to see even beautiful girls and women as He sees them removes a tremendous burden from our shoulders and frees us to focus on something else instead. It would have allowed those boys to realize that they didn’t need to beat themselves up for being human. Rather than their painful and impossible efforts to become “less human” – which led to almost giving up completely for one and terrible decisions for the other, they could have accepted their humanity as having been redeemed already and simply focused their efforts on becoming more divine.
That, imo, is the real power and glory of the Atonement and the Good News of the Gospel.
The only challenge I could see with this model is that there are some things that we want to blame on biology or whatever else but we really DO have control over (with the Lord’s help, of course). Sometimes that process of ‘focusing on becoming more divine’ will include, not ignore or cast aside, those things that are burdening us.
For example, I have struggled with a temper as a mom. I get tired, or hormonal, or fearful about something, and I am more prone to lose it. I think some of it comes with being mortal, some of it might be wiring (family is all prone to emotion, sometimes in extremes). And I know for a fact that it’s not something that I can just click my fingers and change.
But if I had only put it at the Lord’s feet and took up something else completely, I don’t think He could change me like He has, little by little. I have more ‘self-control’ (which really is probably more about a changed heart, but also came about, I believe, because I have worked HARD at overcoming this reactive weakness).
It’s probably just semantics, but I guess I have seen too many situations where people put themselves in victim mode and then absolve themselves from their responsibility to make changes that can bring the power of the Atonement in their lives to change this element, so I’m a little leery of how this could be interpreted…not of the core of the message, mind you, but just how difficult it can be to find that balance.
For me, the key is in not feeling guilty to the point of paralysis. I think guilt is not always bad. Recognizing our weakness is part of humility and relying on the Lord, if we will indeed rely on Him. Knowing that I don’t have to berate myself for my weaknesses gives me more strength to focus on coming to Christ and making efforts to be more like Him…which is what you are driving at, right?
Sorry if I’m sounding nitpicky, but there are my thoughts for the nite.
m, that’s not nit-picky at all. What I am planning to post next week on repentance deals directly with that issue. It’s just that I would rather address the application of grace first, then tackle the practical application afterward – so the repentance can be focused on those things that we actually can do to progress toward perfection.
“Knowing that I don’t have to berate myself for my weaknesses gives me more strength to focus on coming to Christ and making efforts to be more like Him…which is what you are driving at, right?”
Right.
I just finished defending a friend who comments on evangelical blogs, since she was raised in a “Mormons are evil cultists who drag others to Hell” evangelical family and feels prompted to testify to them. It’s interesting to see the difference in tactics between preaching grace and hope and love and being yoked with Jesus and what they do on the site I just left – demeaning and insulting and belittling and calling names. It is so apparent that the concept of “casting thy burdens” and “becoming” are foreign concepts there.
I do NOT want to turn this into a thread ranting about antis or evangelicals or anyone else. I simply shared it because it was such a stark example of what happens when grace is distorted and misunderstood so badly. The judgmental nature of the comments and the automatic assumption that it is ok to say anything in any way as long as you are saved just was so jarring after these discussions. If you have examples that will keep the general tone positive, please share them. Otherwise, I will apologize up front for opening that door. (*grin*)