Tonight, I want to share with you a powerful story:
I hired a carpenter to help me restore an old farmhouse. After he had just finished a rough first day on the job, a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start.
While I drove him home, he sat in stone silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles, and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward, he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. “Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”
“But the funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.” ~Author Unknown –
All of us carry our own share of troubles, worries, cares, concerns, issues, and burdens. And all of us struggle with the temptations of sin as we try to live our every day lives.
As much as we don’t like to admit it, we are a broken people. But we gather here tonight to take a few moments out of our busy lives in order to reconnect with God – a God who loves us unconditionally no matter what we think, say, or do.
We gather tonight as a people who have perhaps lost our way, who are experiencing various hardships and trials, and who are carrying heavy loads upon our shoulders. We gather tonight to unload all these problems that we are carrying and place them at the feet of Jesus. We are here to empty ourselves so that we can be filled by our amazing God. We must allow him to remove these heavy burdens so that we can start over with a fresh slate.
My dear sisters and brothers let us not be afraid. Jesus is right here with us, not just now, but at all times. We are never left alone. God is waiting to reconnect with us. Let us hang our burdens on our trouble tree and return to the Lord with open arms.
