“You can be free from such heavy burdens (guilt, bitterness, anger, fear). Listen and get to know your heart. Jesus doesn’t promise to take your problems away, but he does want you to bring your worries to him and find rest for your soul.”- Alison Cook and Kimberly Miller
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares for you.”- 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
In Chapter 7(“Step Four: Unburden”) of Boundaries for Your Soul, Alison Cook and Kimberly Miller discuss how to identify parts of yourself that carry heavy burdens from the past. Once you focus on , befriend, and invite painful parts of your soul, you’ll discover that they often want to unburden. And, the authors underscore, God always has good things for them in return.
Most noteworthy, when your Spirit-led self leads a part of your soul, that part knows it. In addition, that knowledge leads your painful part to share what it needs to unburden. Thus, in God’s presence, those parts of your internal family see God’s version of themselves. Furthermore, they become the version of themselves God created them to be.
Next, Alison and Kim define burdens as “the extreme beliefs, feelings, or even physical problems that parts of you take on as the result of painful experiences.”
While you can develop burdens anytime, they often develop in childhood. The authors explain:
“Rationally, you may understand that you don’t need to feel or think the way you do and that the hurts you suffered were not your fault. But a part of you tenaciously bears a burden anyway. . . . Although these emotions may have helped you survive difficult situations, it’s time to put a gentle boundary around them and free them to play a more constructive role in your internal family.”
Today’s question: What heavy burdens do you need to bring to Jesus to achieve soul freedom? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Sweep the elephant under the rug?”
