Heavy Water

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:27-29 ESV). I recently received a story about a lecturer who was giving a lecture to his students on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked them, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?" The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500gm. He went on to say, "It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it is OK. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance. It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier. What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again. We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on. So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders let it down for a moment if you can. Pick it up again later when you have rested... Rest and relax. Life is short, enjoy it!!" I have found it true that the burdens we bear are often unnecessary. Life can be very unfair, but God is always there to more than make up for that! Here are some “Words to Live By” that seem to bring this truth into focus: • Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue. • Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. • If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. • If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it. • Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you don't have a leg to stand on. • Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. • The early worm gets eaten by the bird, so sleep late. • Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live. • You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person. • Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened. • We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors but they all live in the same box. • A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour! Rest and relax in the arms of Jesus. He will not let you down!