Cast Your Burden on Him
Scripture Reading: Psalm 55:16-23
“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you…” (v. 22)
John G. Patton, missionary to New Hebrides, came to that South Pacific island during a time when an illness was decimating the population. He cared for the sick and buried the dead and worked to bring them hope through the gospel of Christ. He learned the language so he could translate the New Testament into their native language.
Patton struggled to find an indigenous word for “faith.” Then, one day he was traveling with a group of the islanders. The heat was oppressive so they stopped to rest. They dropped their burden of the things they were carrying and cast themselves down in the shade to rest.
After a moment of rest one of the men said, “It feels so good to stretch out here in the shade.” Patton sat up and had the man repeat the phrase. It became the word for faith in Patton’s translation of the New Testament. To believe is to throw your burden down and cast yourself upon God.
King David learned that God is able to carry our burdens for us. He is able to sustain us through our trials. God is not only able, he is willing. Faith in trouble is casting everything, including ourselves on God.