He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
(Psalm 55:22)
The Lord has some food for thought here for those who are struggling with an issue that seems stuck in place. An issue you've prayed about in some form or another thousands of times and have re-evaluated from every angle, but it hardly budges. It sits lodged in the back of your mind, quietly draining your energy. It has both stretched you and terrified you for days, for months, for years, maybe even for decades.
The food for thought is in a footnote in the NASB reference edition: Next to "your burden" in Psalm 55:22a, it says, "Or what He has given you."
The timing of this is very interesting. I'm in a situation that has returned to haunt me a number of times. It's better than it was, and promises to begin improving even slightly more before too long, but in the past few months it has been the subject of much anguished reflection and repentance, and of much, much prayer. Put frankly, this week is not bad, but that's only because next week will be impossible without the Lord's intervention. So when I read the NASB language note, it bounces back on me with a question: In carefully manoeuvring the "now" with no idea how I'm going to manoeuvre next week, have I perhaps unconsciously applied the principle of this verse? Most 21st-century people would balk at that question. What, are you kidding? You need to at least have next week, next month, and next year figured out. Having the next few decades mapped out is actually the way to go. To me that seems extreme (mapping out life decades in advance seems like a recipe for having a stilted life), but at the same time I am not innately at ease with taking unnecessary risk. Yet virtually my whole adult life turned out to be "not as planned," so what happens then?
Sometimes I use the analogy of falling into a flax vat. The story goes that if you fall into a big vat of flax seed, you will die trying to get out, because flax seed is so oily -- you'll just keep slipping back down. Let's run with that analogy for a minute. Let's say I were actually stuck in a flax vat, and I called out to the Lord. What would He do? Would He pull me out in one big swoosh? Perhaps not, unless I couldn't breathe at all. My clothes would be getting ruined, but from what I know of Him, it's unlikely this would be weighing on His mind. (Just thought I'd add that, because this says a lot to me about His total lack of superficiality.) He might pull me out a bit at a time, so I had time to reflect on some things. That it was foolish to get myself into this position, for one. That He has hold of my hand and is pulling me out -- without Him I would be left to reap the full consequences of my foolishness. That there are other people sinking in the consequences of their foolishness, and that I should not only not judge them, I should pray for them and -- once I'm out myself -- look for opportunities to show God's grace to both the repentant and the unrepentant. (Why should I give two hoots about the unrepentant? Because Jesus did, and because it may help them eventually to see God.)
Back to the issue of mapping out one's life, in many respects planning is certainly important -- learn how to avoid falling into a flax vat! But Jesus didn't worry about tomorrow. He thought about tomorrow -- He knew what was eventually going to happen to Him, for example -- He just knew He would be given the grace to deal with it. Knowing what He knew about what was to come no doubt colored His view of the "now," and forced Him to live somewhat differently than the people around Him.
So what's the lesson here for those of us who are carrying heavy loads that we can't fully bear? Cast what He has given you upon the Lord. Do all that you can do with what He has given you, and trust Him to sustain you. Trust Him that if you've fallen into a flax vat and have called out to Him in surrender, He HAS taken hold of your hand, and IS pulling you out. Stay away from dangers He's taught you to avoid, but trust Him with where you are. Even if the danger you're in is something you wandered into while trying to save yourself from a worse danger. Even if the dilemma you're in is one He seems to have led you to Himself.
Give Him not only the problem, but the hopes and dreams that problem represents. Give Him the whole thing -- give over to Him all of what He has given you to live with, to struggle over, to dream about, to carry on your shoulders.
The fact that "Or what He has given you" is shown in the note as another interpretation of "your burden" means that to some extent at least, He gave you the burden. He may not have led you into upheaval, but He may have allowed the upheaval so that He could pull you near to Himself when you began to panic. There's something about being stuck part way down a flax vat with grubby clothes on that makes you rethink -- and to call upon your God.