Before we got the new railroad overpass in my hometown, there was only an old, rickety, wooden bridge available to cross the railroad tracks close to downtown. The bridge had a maximum capacity sign by it and it also had a sign that said “One-Lane Bridge.” Of course, me being the jokester that I am, I used to tell my kids (whose last name is “LANE”) before we crossed the bridge, “Okay, everybody out but me … the sign says One LANE bridge.”
As I mentioned, there was also a Maximum Capacity sign by the bridge. I don’t remember what the maximum capacity for the bridge was but the bridge wasn’t built for large trucks to pass over. The bridge could have collapsed had a truck weighing more than the Maximum Capacity gone over it. The engineer who built that bridge knew what its limitations were so a sign was posted to warn motorists of those limitations.
Now, wouldn’t it be interesting if we all had Maximum Capacity signs posted on us?! To be sure, each of us has our own capacity … the amount of weight we can carry without collapsing … the amount of pressure we can take before exploding, etc. Ultimately, our “engineer” (God) knows better than anyone else what our Maximum Capacity is. He knows how much we can handle, and He knows when we are carrying more than He intended us to. That’s why He tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 to “Cast all your care upon Him for He cares for you.” There are some things we were NOT designed to carry … namely, CARES and WORRIES. They weigh us down and break us because they are beyond our Maximum Capacity.
Jesus has called us to “carry his cross” … not to “carry our cares.” It’s impossible to do both at the same time.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
