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Oct 04, 2025 06:00am

The Burdens We Refuse to Set Down—And the Savior Who Carries Them

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We all know one—the older lady who carries around a big, heavy purse crammed full of everything imaginable: hard candy, gum, tissues, Band-Aids, lotion, you name it. While it’s normal to see this lady at church or the grocery store, you don’t usually expect to see her at the gym. But that’s exactly where I spotted her.

As I walked laps around the track, I noticed her making her way around too, but with a large, heavy purse slung over her shoulder. Step after step she stopped to readjust the strap, shift its weight, and then keep going. Day after day she returned, faithfully walking while carrying that same heavy burden.

I wanted to tell her, “Ma’am, you’d walk a lot easier if you’d just set your purse down in one of the lockers over there—they’re meant to hold our stuff.” But I kept silent. Still, the picture stuck with me: she was weighed down by something she didn’t have to carry.

And isn’t that just like us?

No, maybe you’re not carrying a grandmother’s purse at the gym. But maybe you’ve been lugging around a heavy load of your own—fear, worry, stress, bitterness, unforgiveness, comparison, shame, guilt, or sin. The longer you carry it, the heavier it feels. Just like that purse, it slows you down, makes every step harder, and steals the joy from the journey.

The Bible is clear: we were never meant to live weighed down. God invites us to cast it all on Him: “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee” (Psalm 55:22). Jesus Himself gives this promise in Matthew 11:28–30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Aren’t you tired of carrying that heavy load around the track? God is willing to take it from you—but you must be willing to give it to Him.

Sometimes, what weighs us down is sin. David described it this way in Psalm 38:4: “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.” Sin doesn’t just affect our outward actions—it presses on our hearts, robs us of peace, and leaves us weary. But God calls us to confess our transgressions, and He is faithful to forgive us and remember them no longer. If He has chosen to forget them, why do we keep holding on to the guilt and reminding Him of what He’s already erased?

Here’s the beauty—God doesn’t just tell us to lay down our burdens and leave us on our own. He gives us His Spirit, His Word, and even one another. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Sometimes relief comes as we lean on brothers and sisters in Christ who walk with us.

Even more, God promises that every trial we endure has purpose. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, produces for us a far greater and eternal weight of glory.” What feels unbearable today is shaping us for eternity.

So, what are you carrying? What’s weighing you down? Whatever it is, the Lord has already provided a place for you to set it down—at the foot of the cross.

The older lady at the gym may never set down her purse. But you don’t have to keep carrying yours. Lay it down today and let Christ carry it.

Will you trust Him enough to lay it down?