Paralysis

Burdens

In the book Pilgrim's Progress, the main character, Pilgrim, is suffering under a heavy load that represents his sin. This shouldn’t be a spoiler, because the book is hundreds of years old. It is not only true that our own sin can feel like a great burden, but also that the sin of our culture can be a great torment. It is also true that we can be weighed down by struggles and cares that are not sinful. The point is that stress and struggle can come from many places.

These burdens can have many problematic effects on us. These effects extend to both the inner and outer life. In this post I would like to think about the causes and effects of these burdens and what we should do about them.

Paralysis of Analysis

The title of this little blurb is “Paralysis” because I was thinking about how often I am overwhelmed by many needs and tasks. In this state, where of course logically one should be engaging the mountain of troubles, I tend to find that I become less productive. This kind of procrastination is called paralysis of analysis. The sheer volume seems overwhelming and it becomes easier to escape into some busy task than the urgent and important work. 

There is more to the cause than just the size of this mountain. Many times the need not only seems to be beyond our abilities, but it actually is beyond our abilities (1 Corinthians 10:11-13). The problems are truly something we can’t solve. The brokenness is something we truly cannot fix. The transformation needed is truly something that we cannot produce, but God can! I believe that the Lord allows us to experience this weight so that we are reminded of our need for His strength and so that we can exercise our faith through pleading prayer and resilient rest.

Pleading Prayer

I am reminded of the story when Jesus along with Peter, James, and John return to the company of the other disciples after Jesus' glorious meeting with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-29). In this passage, the other disciples were trying to cast a mute spirit out of a young boy at the request of his weary and worn out father. The disciples could not cast it out, despite the power that Jesus had given them earlier. Jesus remarks about the lack of faith in the whole situation and the father of the boy both confesses his faith and admits his lack of faith. Jesus then honors the man’s desire to believe by casting out that dumb devil.

It is interesting that Jesus calls the man out for doubting the power of God after the disciples failed to cast out the demon, but rewards his honest plea not only for his son’s healing but for greater faith. In dealing with the most overwhelming problems the first thing we must do is run Christ through pleading prayer. 

Resilient Rest

It might seem strange to speak of rest as a way to deal with overwhelming problems that have produced procrastination and a lack of productivity. But these things are not the same as peaceful rest. Jesus bids believers to come to Him for relief in the midst of our stress and struggles. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus calls us to rest by taking up His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light. Jesus is telling us that our rest is found in our union and connection to Him. In Christ we can lay down our striving to earn righteousness through the law. This frees us to walk in obedience not as a legalistic burden but as a gracious blessing. Jesus bears the burden so that we can rest even in His service.

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