Grace Upon Grace

Hand Off Your Burdens to God

In high school, I excelled in track.  Granted, my long legs and stride helped.  My specialty was running 400 meters, (once around the track), and usually on a relay team.  Besides speed, hand offs are key.  A relay team must transfer the baton from one runner to the next in a quick and efficient manner.  Interestingly, hand offs don’t just happen on the track field.  Spiritually, we can pass the baton, and hand off our burdens to God.

God’s Glory and Our Burdens

In Exodus 33:18, we find Moses pleading with God.  Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”  Granted, glory is a complex word often defined as respect, honor, majesty, and importance.  However, in Hebrew the word for glory is kabod.  When translated into English, kabod means weight, heaviness, or burden.  This definition surprises me.  Yet, just like gold, the value and worth of God’s glory is determined by weight.

With this definition in mind, all the Bible verses comparing God to a rock make more sense.  Rocks are heavy and weighty, providing safety and security. Therefore rocks are a symbol of God’s glory.  

Who is God except the Lord?  Who is the Rock, except our God?  Psalm 18:31 

My God is my rock.  I go to him for safety.  2 Samuel 22:3a

How is Glory Burdensome?

But how can glory be burdensome?  When He died on the cross, God’s Son, Jesus, carried the weight of our sins upon His shoulders.  What unimaginable weight!  What an example of God’s glory being burdensome!  Amazingly, our Lord eagerly desires to carry all our burdens, as the following verses suggest:

Turn all your worries over to him.  He cares about you.  1 Peter 5:7

Come to me, all you who are tired and carrying heavy loads.  I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  Psalm 55:22a  

Hand Off Your Burdens to God

All the above verses contain a measurement of weight.  Our burdens are heavy, cumbersome, and weigh us down.  Because of His glory, God wants to carry that weight for us.  He wants to receive the baton that represents all our sin, anxiety, cares, and hurt.  He will carry the load, because that is what His glory does.  Thankfully, we can hand off our burdens to God.

So just like a track meet, we can transfer our baton.  God is waiting to receive the hand off.  We need to decisively snap the baton that carries our burdens, into the loving hand of our Father.  He will run with it.  

Dear Father, Son, and Spirit,  Thank You for a deeper understanding of Your glory, and Your offer to carry my burdens!  You willingly carry my load, so that I don’t have to.  What glory!  What amazing love!  Amen.

Questions to Consider:

1. How would you describe God’s glory?
2. What to you need to hand off to Jesus today?