JUST LEAVE IT THERE!

I am thinking today of the many struggles we go through as we continue our journey here, with our hearts ever looking toward our heavenly home.  Meanwhile, the path is steep, there are storms coming across our path, our bodies tremble with fear as the lightning flashes around us.  But we continue pressing ever onward and upward toward our heavenly prize.

I was reminded of an old hymn this morning in my prayer time.  The Lord often brings back to my memory hymns that I have not heard sung in many years.  A person only finds them in the old hymn books.  One such song is “Leave It There.”  The praise songs we sing are lovely, but something is missing when we don’t hear the words to these wonderful old hymns which so wonderfully speak to our hearts, inspiring one’s faith.

 LEAVE IT THERE

If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold, and you have to get along with meager fare, just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird; take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Leave it there, leave it there; take your burden to the Lord and leave it there; if you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out; take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

If your body suffers pain and your health you can’t regain, and your soul is almost sinking in despair, Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal; take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail, don’t forget that God in heaven answers prayer; He will make a way for you and will lead you safely thro’; take your burden to the Lord and leave it there

When your youthful days are gone and old age is stealing on, and your body bends beneath the weight of care; He will never leave you then, He’ll go with you to the end; take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Charles A. Tindley (1851-1933)

We are living in hard times for our nation and our world.  Financially many are losing their homes and their employment, many are hungry.  Some may not know where the next meal is coming from.  Are you one of those, my friend?  Sometimes you hardly have enough money left to feed your family and you are in deep despair.  Remember in His Word, He does promise to feed the little birds: “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?”   Matthew 6:26.  He says that you, my friend, are more valuable than many birds, He loves you so much.  Just take your burden to the Lord, kneel at the cross, where all our needs are met, and just leave it with Him.  He hears every cry of your heart, my friend.

I have a loved one whose husband is fighting cancer, and she is sinking in despair.  She thought the battle had been won in his battle against cancer, and now it has come back in another area.  We serve a Mighty God, and He knows the pain she feels and others that I know of who have loved ones battling cancer.  I know of another family who lost a son earlier this year from cancer and now another son is battling cancer.  But Jesus knows the pain, and He does save and heal, as the song says.  So as I shared with my loved one, “we can’t lose hope in this battle.  Our God is bigger than any cancer or any health problem that may come.  We just have to take it to the Lord and leave it there.  I know it is hard to do that, but with His help, we can have peace in these times and just know in our hearts that everything is under His control, even though the path ahead looks dark.  He will guide our way through these storms and there He is waiting with open arms.

And sometimes, you find it hard to face the battle, and your heart wants to faint with fear, but God in heaven hears and answers prayer.  “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him” Isaiah 59:19b.  When the enemy comes against you with defeat, fear, and discouragement, just remember that the LORD has gone out ahead of you and the enemy will be defeated, Praise the Lord!  Just get alone with God and praise Him, thank Him for the victory, and then wait and see what our Mighty God will do.

And many of us are feeling the effects of old age coming on.  Some of us don’t hear too well any more.  Some of us have aches and pains in our bodies, and we can’t do the things we used to do any longer.  It is harder to get up and down sometimes, and we just don’t move as fast as we once did.  Someone once said that “our get up and go has got up and left.”  But I know my Lord will never leave me, and He will go with me through the valley, and right on into my heavenly home, where I will never grow old!  So when you are slowing down, have days of discouragement, days of pain, just take it to Jesus, and leave it there.

“Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.  You will guide me with Your counsel and afterward receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but You?  And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” Psalm 73:23-26.

In Jesus’ Name,
Pastor Sharon