Finding Freedom or Bearing Burdens

During a hectic ministry weekend, someone grabbed a quick picture of my good buddy Victoria Jackson and me relaxing, for a minute. Even as we caught our breath, there was a tinge of "What should we be doing?" We forget God calls us to a blessing and a promise, rest in Him, Exodus 33:14, Hebrews 4:9. Matthew 11:28. Maybe that is why laying down burdens and finding rest can be so hard.

Finding a moment's rest with Victoria Jackson

"Why do you take the people from their work?" Exodus 5. Pharaoh's question to Moses seems straightforward, but it makes a flawed assumption. It assumes the labor Pharaoh piled on God's children is what they were meant to do. Clearly, God's plans and Pharaoh's did not align. For generations, Israelites had done as the enemy ordered without question. Those days were coming to an end, but learning to overcome obstacles and hear the call to freedom would not be easy.

Israelites could march into freedom, or they could remain subject to those who would destroy them. They could not do both. We can find freedom or bear burdens from the past. It is impossible to be free if we continue laboring for our own "Egypts". Powers of the world demand that we get back to our burdens. They taunt us with questions without desiring honest answers. The enemy of our souls works to condemn us when we walk away from that bondage, Galatians 4:8-9. Too often we comply forgetting the burden calling us to return is not one we were never meant to carry. Addiction, anxiety, abuse or any entanglement of sin. condemnation... are not for us. If the weight you have picked up is crushing, it is not yours to carry, Psalm 55:22. That's Worth Remembering.