I’m Gonna Lay It Down

I’ve been lookin’ till my eyes are tired of lookin’
Listenin’ till my ears are numb from listenin’
Prayin’ till my knees are sore from kneelin’ on the bedroom floor
I know that You know that my heart is achin’
I’m running out of tears and my will is breakin’
I don’t think that I can carry the burden of it anymore
All of my hopes and my dreams and my best-laid plans
Are slowly slippin’ through my folded hands

So I’m gonna lay it down
I’m gonna learn to trust You now
What else can I do
‘Cause everything I am depends on You
And if the sun don’t come back up
I know Your love will be enough
I’m gonna let it be, I’m gonna let it go,
I’m gonna lay it down

I’ve been walkin’ through this world like I’m barely livin’
Buried in the doubt of this hole I’ve been diggin’
But You’re pullin’ me out
I’m finally breathin’ in the open air
This room may be dark but I’m finally seein’
There’s a new ray of hope, and now I’m believin’
That the past is past, and the future’s beginning to look brighter now
Oh, cause all of my hopes and my dreams and my best-laid plans
Are safe and secure when I place them in Your hands

Jaci Velasquez
songwriters: Jay Jenkins, Miquel Scott, Lee Dixon, Jacoby White, Jasper Cameron

*  ~  ♥  ~   ✞   ~  ♥  ~  *

This song reveals the brokenness of my heart every single time I hear it…and for that I am oh-so-very thankful!  Each of us has burdens and cares and concerns…some days it seems they are more than we can bear.  To think that they will not happen and that one can walk through this life without them is to deny the Truth.  However, they are not ours to carry or bear on our own.  Throughout the Scriptures, we are told that the Lord will bear them for us.

Blessed be the Lord,
Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day,
even the God Who is our salvation! Selah
Psalm 68:19

Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me,
because I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

The burdens, the concerns, the cares of this life can turn into worries, doubts, fears if we do not bring them to our Lord letting Him take care of them.  We are to humbly recognize our great need for Jesus, and all that He has already done and promised to do for us, because He cares for us.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God
so that at the proper time He may exalt you,
casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:6 and 7

Listen to Jesus’ admonition and promises in Matthew chapter 6;  as you read along, put your own name wherever there is a ♥ , ok?

Therefore I tell you, ♥, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on.  ♥,  is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you, ♥, not worth much more than they?
And, ♥, who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?
And why should you, ♥,  be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.
Yet I tell you, ♥, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, ♥, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry and be anxious, ♥, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?
For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you, ♥,  need them all.
But seek first of all His kingdom and His righteousness, ♥, and then all these things will be given you besides.
So do not worry, ♥, or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own.  Sufficient for each day, ♥, is its own trouble. (emphasis added)

Jesus’ words are full of action for us to take, true…but not the action of taking care of ourselves. Rather, He tells us to

• stop being perpetually uneasy
• look at (and consider) the birds of the air
• consider the lilies of the field
• do not worry and be anxious
• seek first of all His kingdom
• <and again> do not worry or be anxious

This is not always easy to do…but it is what we are to do in obedience.  It is a moment-by-moment choice.  Will we stop…look…consider…not worry or be anxious…and seek His kingdom OR will we have worry, doubt, fear, be anxious, and try to bear our own burdens, concerns, and cares?

I pray for you that TODAY you will choose to trust and say,
“I’m gonna let it be, I’m gonna let it go, I’m gonna lay it down…
in Jesus’ powerful name, amen.”
(Will you, please, pray that for me, too?)