Ever felt like it? Running away that is? I know I have.
Even the very thought of just turning around, slamming the door and taking off into the blue horizon fills you with sense of the warm and fuzzies.

Maybe the job has got you to point of no return, or maybe no job at all and the prospect of yet another day of the ‘endless search’ is driving you to point of distraction.
Maybe living with a hormonal teenager is tipping you over the edge, or your finances in this latest global financial disaster has taken it’s toll and you want to throw in the towel and give life as you know it all away.
Whatever has rocked your boat to the very edge of your personal shipwreck, please take heart, so many have been there before you.
The desire to ‘run away’ form it all and leave those difficult and sometimes unimaginable horrors of life and just slip over the fence to ‘greener pastures’ is not new or unique. It’s far too common in fact.
Maybe you have been going through a pretty tough time of it though loss or betrayal? Harsh words and bullying through social media is rife these days and dialogue is so freely available and often just so easy when not face to face.
When we have been severely hurt and offended, the words and actions are so often hard even impossible to erase from our memories. Maybe you are recovering from or have been threatened by violence or violence through the exchange of harsh and disparaging words. Sometimes even at the hands of family.
Maybe all you can think of doing is running away – or maybe you have even now already run away,
On writing this I have no idea what your burden could be but I know the feeling of just longing to jump in the car and take off and drive some place – any place really as long as it’s away and you can take a break from the heaviness of your heart and the huge weight of that dark cloud on your shoulders.
All of us are on our own journey and many of us are carrying heavy loads of doubt, worry, guilt and all sorts of burdens that very few of our friends even know about.
Honesty with ourselves and with God, in my opinion, is the very first step towards healing. Coming to the point where you can actually lay your burden, whatever it is, at the feet of Jesus. Psalm 55:22 says “cast your burden on the Lord, and he will shall sustain you.”
So what does that actually mean “Sustain you”? – The last thing I want to do is quote platitudes that ‘make you feel good’ like a bumper sticker, but God is God who answers our prayers surprisingly not in the way we often expect.
God will see us through these hard times – He will indeed. The situation in which you have found yourself may not in fact simply disappear once prayed over BUT God will definitely see us through them.
My mind goes to that dark night when Jesus prayed in that garden. he prayed that the looming crucifixion would complete God’s plan and bring it to a final conclusion.
Jesus certainly wasn’t hankering to go through this horrendous pain but He certainly wasn’t going to shy away from it.
Jesus prayed that all would be done according to the will of God – Such a great example of how we should be praying when we are faced with tumultuous times when we feel like giving it all up and just running away.
Jesus didn’t run away – he was prepared to do what needed to be done and pray according to the will of the Father. That is exactly what we should be doing, praying and living according to the will of our Father.
When we start living like this our lives, in a very real way, cease to be ours and start to be Gods. He starts living His life though us and guiding us though the dark times, through the doubts, through the despair.
So instead of running away from our burdens and trials, which ultimately won’t work anyway, pick up your burden and ask God to start living His life though you. Ask Him to carry your load for you. Put it squarely on His shoulders – He will definitely see you through this dark time.
May our stressful times be a beacon to the world that God’s grace is alive in us and that through our trials his name will be glorified.