January 18

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. — Ps 55:22 BSB

There are some common misconceptions about how God helps us. People think that whenever they face trouble, whether a hard path, a heavy burden, or deep sorrow, they can simply call on God, and He will remove the problem. But this is not how God works. His purpose is not to make life easy for us, but to make something of us.

When we ask God to save us from struggles, to smooth out our paths, or to lift our burdens, He doesn’t always do it. It would be unloving for Him to answer those prayers. We must carry our burdens, for it is through carrying them that we grow. God’s promise is not to remove the challenges but to sustain us as we face them. He wants us to learn the lessons of life by working through its difficulties.

There are rich blessings that can only be found in sorrow. It would be short-sighted love if God answered our prayers by sparing us from pain, because in doing so, He would rob us of the blessings that can only come through enduring those trials. God is too good to take away the hardships that lead to a deeper, truer, and holier life. The blessings in the burdens are worth the price of carrying them.