These are some tough days in America; all we have to do to see it is to look around. There are few things as frustrating as being shut out of improving our own lives.

One reason I love being a Christian is that Jesus, our leader, desires our participation in making life better. He is all wise and all powerful, and yet He invites us to come to Him, let Him help carry our load, and then partner with Him in making our own lives, and our civic life, better and better. Jesus’ way is one of timeless principles that bring rich dividends to anyone who walks with Jesus through life.

Whenever our life is bombarded with chaos, destructiveness or disillusionment, Jesus invites us to step up and enter into partnership with Him. He encourages us to walk through life with Him, following His lead. He knows the way forward, and all we need to do is walk step by step with Him on the journey. As we do this, He gives refreshment to our soul, as we learn from Him and let Him do the heavy lifting.

Here are the words of Jesus on this subject, from Matthew 11:28-29 in The Passion Translation: “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to Me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with Mine. Learn My ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, and easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in Me.”

One of the things that can quickly drain a person is encountering pressures, problems and difficulties over which they have no say, nor control. When the problems created by others are dumped onto us to carry, we start worrying, and if we are not careful we get eaten up by these things. When people are forced to carry problems others created, problems those people aren’t even trying to fix, then fatigue and burnout are on the horizon.

When people carry burdens that they have chosen to carry, they are motivated to carry that load. But when they are being expected to carry the weight of a bunch of problems that other people created, then resentment is the outcome. Burdens that others purposely pile onto us, while carrying none of the burdens themselves, cause resentment, anger, fatigue and discouragement.

As an example, when I was an older teenager, I got hired for the summer by the State Highway Department, working with the district road maintenance crew. One of the most dehumanizing job assignments was picking up litter along the highways (often loaded diapers). We called it “Crud Picking.” Each team consisted of three people. Well, Big John, a plump guy, would sit in the dump truck, drive forward and wait for my partner and I to pick up trash on both sides of the truck, dump our buckets of trash into the truck bed and then pick up more crud. In the desert, the sun beat down upon us mercilessly. We were sweating like pigs. Meanwhile, Big John sat in the truck, in the shade, with an oscillating fan blowing on him. He was totally uncaring. He would not stop for us to take a breather, nor trade off driving. We became passive aggressive. We would tell him to stop so we could drink some water from the water bags on the side of the truck. Then we put a bucket under the back wheels, so when he drove forward the truck crushed the bucket flat, which he would have to explain to the bosses. So he would get livid.

When we are heavy laden with burdens placed upon our shoulders, we need to reconnect with Jesus, or we will be crushed by the burdens others place upon us. However, when we yoke, i.e. connect our lives to Jesus with a yoke, He has the power and strength to lift that load off our shoulders to lighten our load, to refresh our soul, and to renew our energy and perspective. He can keep us moving forward. Jesus can make an oasis for us in the desert, as He does the heavy lifting and leads the way forward.

What is on your shoulders? Do you feel as though you are carrying the weight of the world? Are you carrying the burden alone, or letting Jesus help lift and carry the load? Is the weight about to crush you?

Team up with Jesus and find refreshment, joy and renewed strength. We will still have burdens to carry, but we don’t carry them alone, nor in our own strength.

Award-winning columnist Dr. Ed Jordan is pastor of Gwynn’s Island Baptist Church in Gwynn, Virginia. He can be reached at szent.edward@gmail.com.