I loooove control. And I love to think I can take care of it all. Can you relate?
Back in a particularly tough college semester, I thought I had it all under control- school assignments, papers, a part-time job, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Then, I had a moment. One that I’ll never forget, that sticks with me to this day.
While I was waiting at the light in town, I realized I could not hold onto the reins of my life anymore. They were slipping right out of my white-knuckled, tired hands. I knew that letting go would feel so good, and quite honestly, my only real option was to surrender to God.
So I did just that- I actually fully surrendered to God, for the very first time in my life. I cried out to God in my red Pontiac Grand Am at the red light on Oak Street.
And it was genuine surrender, a kind I’d never felt before. It left me feeling so light and free. I didn’t feel the life-crushing burden anymore that I was trying to carry alone. It was in God’s hands now.
I want you to feel liberated, just like I did. Below, you’ll learn how to give your heavy burdens to God which will allow you to live free from life’s pressure.
This post may contain affiliate links which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
Your Burdens are Heavy
When I say your burdens, I mean the things in life that weigh on you, those worries, doubts, and fears that are on your mind. Your burdens are your big problems and struggles that you try to control and take charge of on your own. They are the concerns, hesitations, and questions that take up your headspace.
And these burdens that you carry are really weighty.
I’ve always struggled with what God’s will for my life is, and a burden I carried for a long time was my career choice. Countless hours, I’ve fretted trying to discern what the “right” job was for me. I finally found freedom after praying that God would lead me and make my path clear.
I didn’t get accepted to grad school, I read “Own Your Every Day” by Jordan Lee Dooley, and I felt led to start this blog. So, I believe that God outlined my path clearly for me. That specific burden weighed so heavy on my heart and consumed so much of my thoughts until I laid it at God’s feet.
Take a moment to jot down a few burdens you have in the notes app on your phone. Try to write them somewhere instead of just thinking of them in your head.
Can you recognize that you’re in over your head with these troubles? Do you see that they are pressing down on your heart and your spiritual wellbeing? Are you recognizing that there’s no need for you to handle them alone?
When you try to control every aspect of your life, including your burdens, you can end up burning yourself out, feeling depressed or anxious, defeated, discouraged, or powerless. What I want for you is to escape these feelings by surrendering to God.
| Related Reading: 26 Things to Thank God for When You’re Life Isn’t Ideal
God Can Carry More Than You: What the Bible says about Surrendering to God
We are not meant to carry the load of life on our own. Our tiny arms are no match for what the world can throw at us. Thankfully, God’s arms are stronger than any bodybuilder you’ll see at your gym.
God has the capacity to carry yours and everyone else’s burdens with ease. How do I know this?
Psalm 34:4 says,
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
He will cast away your fears if you let Him. How comforting that we don’t have to stew in the things we’re scared of. If we surrender our fears to God, he will help you to literally not have those fears anymore because you will be clinging to Him and trusting in Him.
Psalm 68:19 says,
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.” To bear up means to endure and persevere. God does this for us DAILY! It means that he is capable of withstanding our hard things if we give them to Him. Incredible, right?!
Matthew 11:29-30 says,
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Let’s break that one down a bit. We can choose to yoke ourselves to our burdens or to Jesus. When we pick Jesus, He’s the one that does all the heavy lifting (when oxen are yoked, the stronger one pulls along the weaker one).
So Jesus is saying here that when we choose Him, the burden we have to carry is light, and He’s carrying the heavy stuff for us. I love the message in these verses because the bible makes it so clear that the obvious choice is to surrender to God.
Do you need comfort, encouragement, assistance, or support in dealing with your burdens? That’s what God can provide if you surrender to Him.
| Related Reading: My Top Strategy for Finding Comfort
Psalm 55:22 says,
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
He’s always ready to listen when you want to give something to him.
Psalm 18:6 says,
“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”
How to Surrender to God
Surrendering to God means choosing to let God have your troubles, worries, and fears since He’s more capable of handling them than you are. You can surrender to God by saying a simple prayer asking Him to take control of your concerns and take them off your plate.
You could say something along these lines:
“God, please take away my worries about —. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’m tired of stressing about it and overthinking. I’m surrendering it fully to you.”
(Your prayer does NOT have to use these words. This is just an example.)
I’ve written more extensively on how to have a more meaningful prayer life if you need more on that.
Surrendering doesn’t have to be a one-time thing over a huge burden. You can give small worries to Him daily so you don’t have to tire yourself out stressing about it.
And you can surrender the same thing over and over.
I do this all the time because I struggle fully surrendering things. I’ll surrender something to God, then worry about it later that day, so the next morning, I’ll surrender it again. I’m human, it happens.
I’m always giving things to Him. I’m always striving to be god-fearing like the Proverbs 31 woman is. But it’s a humbling process!
I typically surrender something to Him after I have been overthinking it for a week or so, and my mind is worn out because I’ve mulled it over and over. You’d think I’d know better by now and surrender sooner (still working on that)!
Surrendering to God means passing your troubles onto Him and choosing to let go of control. It’s definitely a faith-filled step that requires you to intentionally trust that God can handle your burdens better than you can. But when you truly believe that, you’ll feel totally liberated like I did that day in the car.
(I’ve written about letting go of control in my discussion about how manifestation fits into faith.)
Let’s Bring it Home
Your burdens are heavy, friend, and God is stronger, so it’s wise for you to surrender to Him through prayer and trust that He has your best interest in mind. You will feel so free if you can learn to surrender something as soon as it starts eating at you (not after a week of overthinking like I sometimes do).
I pray that you would look at the list you created of your burdens that I had you write down earlier and give them up to God. He knows how to handle them! Unload on Him so you can get back to doing what Christians are called to do, love God and love others.
I hope you feel liberated now that you’ve been encouraged to give the tough stuff to God so that you can live your life free of undue pressure.
Related Reading:
26 Things to Thank God for When You’re Life Isn’t Ideal
How to Finally Find Fulfillment as a Christian: Understanding God’s Will
Share this post with a loved one that could use this encouragement!
And follow me on Pinterest for more encouragement!