WHEN GOD BECAME A BURDEN

This new regular feature is for those who are ready for a deeper biblical insight into how young people can live a more holy life. One of the Sehion youth ministers shares their experience of struggling with their faith.

ENTHUSIASM

When I first encountered Jesus a few years ago my life was transformed. My faith was renewed and refreshed and I decided that each morning I would set aside time for God. So I would begin each day by saying the Angelus and praying the Rosary, then I would read and meditate on Scripture. I am a creature of habit so this routine suited me well but gradually I found myself adding more and more prayers for various retreats and other good causes and eventually it all became too much.

A BURDEN

Not only did I have to do all my school work and be a “normal kid” but I also had to spend time with God and walk with Him. My life at this time wasn’t easy. Without realising it, God had become a burden in my life. Deep down, I was thinking that it would have been much easier without all the rules and prayer times. I looked around at my friends at school, who had no faith and they seemed to be having much more fun than I did. I just felt drained most of the time, as I tried to be careful and not fall into sin. Instead of being the light and joy of my life, God had become dark and gloomy – a massive burden.

REALISATION

I realised that I was trying to control God and how He was working in my life. I was not ready to give up the reigns and hand control over to Him. God had just become another weight that I was trying to carry. This is not what God wants us to do though. The Bible tells us to “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22) God wants to carry us, not the other way round. Jesus told his disciples to follow Him. He didn’t say, “You walk and I will follow you.” The problem comes when we try to steer God according to our plans and end up in a tug of war with God, who by the way is omnipotent (all powerful), and this means that we get tired, frustrated and suddenly God becomes a burden. Scripture says, “The love of God is this, that we obey His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3) It is easy for the Bible to say that but it is very challenging for us young people today to live a Holy life the way that God wants for us. The lure of sin is all around us.

BOUNDARIES

I hate all forms of sport (#anti-sport) because I am not a sporty person. But we can learn from them. Take football for example. There are many rules that the players must follow and the game takes place within a defined area on the pitch. So the players are restricted in where they can go and what they can do. But within these boundaries they have total freedom to show their skills and abilities. The rules are there to support the players and not to inhibit them, so that they can have a better and fairer game. In the same way God’s laws and commandments aren’t meant to restrict us but they are meant to liberate us and give us more freedom. The main reason why I don’t like sport is because I hate losing. If I was on the winning team more often I would probably love it. Failing to keep God’s commands is one reason why they become a problem for us. No one likes losing and soon we find God’s laws become too much for us.

GOD’S GRACE

St. Paul also struggled with this and he appealed to the Lord about his failings. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10) Jesus told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) We find our failings too much because we do not give them to the Lord. The more we do hand them over, the more God’s grace will be with us. There is no point in trying to fight our failings in our own strength, because we can only overcome them with grace from God. So we ought to turn our eyes to Him from whom, “We have all received grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)

PRAY

God loves us. He delights in us. He actually likes us for who we are, with all our weaknesses and struggles. We just have to come to Him like a child (Matthew 18:3-5) and hold out our hands to Him. We have to let God lead us and then He will no longer be a burden to us. He will carry us like a Father carrying his child. If you are struggling with this then pray about it. Ask the Lord why you are finding it so difficult and ask Him to carry your burdens. Then be silent and allow Him to respond back to you.