Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 5, 2008
“You Can’t Carry the Burden”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
We can’t carry the burdens of this life.
We just can’t. We weren’t designed to.
So many people become alcoholics because they can’t carry the burdens.
So many people turn to antidepressants, or illegal drugs.
And I’m not just talking about people at the bottom of society. These are people from all walks of life, many of them very smart, even brilliant.
“Well maybe they’re just weak; they just can’t handle the pressure.”
No, this applies to everyone. None of us can carry the burdens of life.
Have you ever lost a loved one? It’s unbearable. Yes, life goes on, and time dulls the pain, but really, death is a burden we just can’t bear.
Have you ever had a broken heart? It rends you to the core. You can’t even breathe. A broken heart is a burden we just can’t bear.
Have you ever hurt someone? You can’t take it back. It’s done, and you hate it. It’s guilt and remorse. It’s a burden we just can’t bear.
Have you considered your own mortality? You look in the mirror and see the age. You look ahead and, man, don’t even go there. Mortifying thoughts of our own aging and death – it’s a burden we just can’t bear.
Some people cope by not thinking about it. That’ll get you through the day, but it’s living like a scared rabbit.
Are you trying to do everything right – your marriage, your job, your children, your money? You just want to get it right, all of it. The home. The career. The retirement. Even your life as a Christian. Then what happens when things fall short? Maybe your child becomes a prodigal. Maybe your investments crash. Maybe you lose your job. How do you cope? When you really look at it, getting it all right is a burden we just can’t bear.
So what do we do, give up? Just stop thinking and working?
If you do that you are just adding to the world’s problems. No, we need more thinking and working, not less.
So how can we do that when life’s burdens are just too heavy?
Well let’s look at what Jesus said in Matthew 11. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus offers a tremendous solution. He’s not telling us to think less or work less. It doesn’t involve drugs or alcohol. So what does it involve?
“Rest for your souls.”
See, this is where we carry the burdens of life. We think about them, but they’re not really in our mind. We work on them, but they’re not really on our back. No, the burdens of this life are carried in our soul. It’s a burden you feel gnawing at your gut. Call it worry or anxiety or stress.
Life gets messed up, and it eats away at you. But Jesus offers us rest for our souls.
First John 3:19 talks about our hearts being at rest in God’s presence.
Psalm 68:19 says, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”
It’s a burden swap. He bears these burdens that we just can’t carry. Then we take on His burden, which He said is light. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Well, what is His burden? Here’s what He said in that same passage. He said, “Come to me…” and He said, “…learn from me…” That sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?
We put our faith in Him. We trust Him. We submit to Him. We let Him lead us and teach us. We surrender the reins of our life to Him.
And He takes our burdens, and gives us rest for our souls.
When we lose a loved one, we can hand Him the burden, take His hand and let Him lead us through.
When our heart is broken, we can hand it to Him and trust Him to mend it, better than before.
When we’ve hurt someone else, we trust Him to forgive us and make us clean.
When we consider our own mortality, we can relax, trusting that the Good Shepherd will carry us through, wherever the valley leads.
And you know what? This sets us free to think more and work more. See, it’s not that we stop thinking or working. We can now think and work more externally, because we have been set free from the debilitating burden internally.
We are free!
He gives us rest for our souls!
This is God’s plan for us, because He knows that no matter how strong we are, none of us can carry the burdens of this life.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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