Those of us of a certain age may well remember the Cadbury’s Caramel advert which featured a rather seductive female bunny who urged the vigorous, hard-working beaver to ‘take it easy with Cadbury’s Caramel.’
I don’t think God looks anything like that bunny, but I do think sometimes He wants us to learn to lean on Him and relax. (Matt 11:28-30) Maybe this is the kind of thing He wants to say to us:
‘Relax!
You’re not running the universe.
I am.
People baffle you.
The darkness in their hearts wounds you.
You long for lasting change,
But are frustrated by the ‘same old..’
Your own propensity to sin,
Coupled with the deceitfulness of the heart,
Lead you to walk with slumped shoulders and furrowed brow:
Frowning, instead of rejoicing,
Trudging, instead of skipping.
Where is this ‘lightness of spirit’?
You walk with the cares of the world on your shoulders:
Atlas, struggling with a deadweight
Heavier than you were meant to bear.
Let go!
Cumbered with a load of care?
Give it up, then.
Drop the burden at the cross.
Let Me carry you.
It’s not your responsibility.
All I want is for you to learn
The unforced rhythms of grace.
Learn to skip.
Learn to smile.
Learn to relax.
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
I’ve got it all in hand.
You don’t have to work it out.
You don’t have to understand.
You don’t have to solve it.
You don’t have to fix it.
You just have to walk with Me.’