October 14, 2025

Right now, the world seems heavy. There are so many burdens, people who are hurting, frustrated, angry, and the weight of it all is bearing down on us.

For my husband and me, we know many friends and loved ones who are dealing with serious health issues, illnesses with parents and children, financial difficulties and more. I feel like if I hear about one more tragedy, one more person hospitalized, one more job loss, I will collapse under the weight of it all. My prayer list is so long right now.

But even through the pain and fear and frustration, we must put our burdens at the feet of Christ. When my husband is struggling with this, he holds his hands, palms up, to indicate the burdens, then turns over his hands like he’s putting them down. For me, I hold the burdens in my hands, palms up, then try to lift them a little higher to have God take them from me.

The gesture of turning your hands over and putting down what you don’t need to carry is good, but when talking with my husband about this, I said it was too easy to pick those troubles right back up when you put them down, so to speak.

Listen, I’m not trying to say my husband is doing anything wrong or I’m right with our silly pantomime of trying to release our troubles. We’re grappling with serious issues with those we love right now, and we’re trying to find a way to cope, pray, and really walk with Christ, knowing He is with us. It’s very difficult to do when life is dark and heavy.

We truly need to trust God, and fear can overwhelm that trust. But whether we lift our burdens high to give them to God, or put them at the feet of Jesus, we need to trust that God walks with us through all of our trials. We can look back and see what He’s done for us in the past. That should help us as we face an unknown future.

With all the heaviness and troubles around us, we need to walk in hope, and especially in trust. Our belief can be light and encouragement in the darkness.

Let me ask you: how do you handle troubling days and difficult times?

Let’s encourage one another.

WONDERFUL SIDE NOTE! Okay – I was looking up a verse from Psalms that I wanted to share for this post, but when I opened my Bible on-line, the verse for the day was 2 Samuel 22:29 (NIV). It says, “You, LORD, are my lamp; the LORD turns my darkness into light.”

Wow – you can’t tell me that God isn’t hearing all of those prayers and trying to show us that he is near. He is lighting our way.

Stay encouraged today!