The Day was Long

The day was long. My mind was cluttered. I searched for words to pray, but lacking my own, I began to sing a sweet hymn written by Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) whose prayerful words lifted my voice to the Heavens.

How gentle God's commands!

How kind His precepts are!

Come, cast your burden on the Lord

And trust His constant care.

"Yes, trust," I thought, as the words escaped my lips. "I'll trust His constant care. He doesn't leave me; I leave Him. If I stay, He's here. I don't have to be alone."

Beneath His watchful eye,

His Saints securely dwell;

That hand which bears all nature up

Shall guard His children well.

The hand that guards me... it is the same hand that led me through years of thick depression when faith in Him was the only light I could see. It is the same hand that guides me through challenges that would otherwise leave me perplexed. It is the same hand that plucked me from the swimming pool before I drowned, that held the truck steady during a 360-degree spin on a busy road, and that grasped mine tightly as I traveled through the veil to bring babies to this world during childbirth. Yes - oh, yes - He guards me well.

Why should this anxious load

Press down your weary mind?

Haste to your Heav'nly Father's throne

And sweet refreshment find.

I kneel at His throne twice a day, as a child speaking to her Father. I thank Him and praise Him, but then I do what most children do when they find themselves alone with their dad; I whine. "My day was hard," I remind Him, forgetting that He knows my experience exactly. "I'm confused. My legs ache. The kids are driving me crazy. I feel bad that I did - or said - or thought - that thing."

He doesn't mind my complaints and worries, but sits on His throne, patiently listening, encouraging, cheering, reaching, and waiting... waiting for the words to fall at His feet so He can lift them up and carry my burdens on His strong back. I've given Him my concerns in exchange for His lighter load of love, peace, joy, and hope.

Refreshed, I stand and sing again.

His goodness stands approved,

Unchanged from day to day;

I'll drop my burden at His feet

And bear a song away.