Surfer’s Chapel, Huntington Beach: Pastor/Teacher Bill White “Power of Letting Go” (#5 in a Power series) preached 8/12/95

As Christians, we have the potential to carry heavy loads, as if we don’t realize He’s there for us, and that He loves us.

Matthew 11:28-30  “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

Let’s pull this apart and consider what it’s saying, this is marvelous.

What are we carrying? Is it regret? Is it sorrow? Is it anxiety or worry? You should know He wants us to confess our sins, repent, and let Him carry our burdens.

In this Matthew 11:28, He’s clearly stating He’s seeking to give you rest.

29: He wants us to learn from Him, THE MASTER WANTS US TO LEARN FROM HIM [gasps!] and He is calling us to find the rest for our souls, as He is gentle and humble in heart.

30: His burden is light, and He wants to swap!

Psalm 55:22 “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

Throw your junk, our cares, upon God. Believe it, He’ll never allow the righteous to be shaken. Who are the righteous? Just the preachers, evangelists? The theologians, Bible PHD’s? NO! He is talking about US. We get His righteousness if we believe in Him.

Genesis 15:6, “He believed (Abraham) in the Lord; and He credited it to him as righteousness.

Deuteronomy 6:25 “and it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to follow all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us. [this is following the 10 commandments, those awesome guard-rails for living. IF we’re following them, most of the time, even if we don’t do as well some of the time, the fact that we want to, it’s credited to us as righteousness.

Matthew 5:6 Jesus says “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”, and promises that “they will be satisfied”.

Romans 6:16 states that our obedience results in righteousness.

18 states we, who believe and are freed from sin are now slaves to righteousness.

Romans 10:10 Belief equals righteousness.

(There are so many righteousness verses, go ahead and look it up sometime!)

If we are dealing with past or present burdens, the first step should be to bring our concerns to God in prayer.

Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Don’t be anxious! It’s as if Jesus is saying: “You unload your bummers onto my doorstep, and I’ll stoke you with my peace, Just pray and I’ll answer you.” What does Paul next say in verse 7? Doesn’t that sound rad? The peace of God that surpasses all your ability to comprehend, then what, guard your heart and your mind. I get guard your heart, but at first wondered why my mind. Didn’t take long to realize it’s the crud that keeps me awake at night, I cannot stop thinking about whether day or night, but at night it’s harder to shake. It’s as if my heart isn’t in my anxiety or worry, either case when at night when I cannot just ignore it (like in the day), I’ve found getting up quietly and going out to the couch to open my Bible and read a psalm or pour over a proverb. Of course if that doesn’t work there’s always the book of Numbers if I really can’t sleep, but rarely do I need to go there. After filling my mind with His Word, it’s much easier to sleep. I guess you could render that a pro-tip (not that I’m any kind of pro), yet you know what I mean!

1 Peter 5:6-8 are memory verses of mine. Verses 6-7 is the sure-shot for what we’re talking about here. As it focuses us on what attitude we should have when letting go.

6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.”

Humble yourself where? Under the mighty hand of God (Me thinks it’s reverence here, like last week’s Power of Reverence!) What happens when we do that? It’s awesome to see it kind of like another logic statement, an IF/THEN, He will exalt us because He cares for us. Selah!

Psalms 68:19 “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation. Selah”

He daily, moment by moment, will bear our burden! Give them up always! You cannot bother God by continually bringing it to Him. He wants you to give ‘em up.

John 14:25-27

25 “These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.”

What is that saying, do you realize? We’ve got the GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT to remind us, and to help us, to teach us. He’s leaving us Peace, and not as what the world knows as Peace, and there it is again, do not let your heart be troubled or fearful. Are we letting Go yet? There’s power that comes when we let go to the One who rules our heart.

In John 16 Jesus continues this line,

33 “ These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

In HIM we may have peace, and we don’t need to worry about the world, because He’s overcome it!

Emotional healing comes through His peace. GO FOR IT.

Isaiah 54:10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My favor will not be removed from you,
Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,’
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.”

God has compassion ON you!

Phil 3:10-14

10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and [a]the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The apostle Paul is going for it here! The goal God called him to. Let God do the maintenance.

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” 

Fufill the law of Christ – and be a brother or sister to fellow saints, helping them with their burdens. Listen, really listen to them intentionally, not just waiting for them to stop talking so you can start again. If it’s unclear, repeat it back to them for accuracy, this will show them that you’re really trying to understand them. Without question, life can get hard, and it may get even more better with one-another as confidants.