This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us. 1 John 3:19-24.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. Matthew 11:28-30 MSG.

This morning in our Friday Retreat, we did a Visio Divina where we look at images and see what Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, speaks to our hearts. There was a collage of images of people carrying backpacks, sitting beside backpacks, backpacks with rolled bedding attached and backpacks tossed onto the sand with shoes beside them. There were people – a small girl with a colorful animal backpack on her way to school, a group of friends laughing, a woman sitting silently with a book in hand, another with arms upraised in joy, a man walking away, head down and the path before him uneven and leading forward to what cannot be seen ahead, a woman’s torso only holding a heavy purse and standing upright and ready…and with all the images of people and backpacks, the beauty of nature all around. The backpacks can represent so many things…provision for our journey, heavy load, burdens, favorite animal backpack. We all carry them.

And our chapter, Proverbs 4, reminds us how to gain understanding and wisdom from our God who provides all we need for our journey and promises never to leave us or forsake us. If our hearts condemn us…God is greater than our hearts. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you…When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble…Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life…The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble…Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it…v. 6, 12, 13, 18, 19, 23.

Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. How do we recover our life when burdens we carry weigh us down and the way forward seems lost? We believe God. If our hearts condemn us…God is greater than our hearts! The heaviest burdens are the ones we force upon ourselves. The next heaviest are the burdens others place upon us. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace…God won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. He wants us to live fully with Him. He gave His Spirit so we never need to walk alone along any path. There is such joy and peace with our God. Take your eyes off the problems of this world and breathe air that is free with our God leading us on paths of righteousness. He walks them with us. The heaviest burdens we carry are the ones we think keep us from God’s love and forgiveness. Stop shouldering those burdens. Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39.