The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-08-29


there in agonizing prayer she gath
cred them all up again and went forth
more heavily burdened than ever.
That is not the way God wants you to
do. That is not casting all your care
upon Him. Do as the dear brother i
knew did. He took his crushing bur
den to the Lord and, as he laid it at the
Masters feet, he began to count over
his blessings and burst into singing
over the gift of Saviour who had
cleansed him from all sin. And when
he went out from the presence of the
Lord he forgot all about his burden
and left it behind, while the dove of
Gods peace sang a new song in his
heart such as it had not known for
many day.
Freedom from care and worry, be-
cause we cast it all upon the Lord.
Think of it! Why it is said that care
and worry kill more people in the
world to-day than disease or calam-
ity. We find it written upon the brow
of the multitudes of people we meet
daily. The father carrying burdens
in his business that are fast tinging his
hair with gray, and shortening his
days upon earth; the mother bravely
struggling under the cares and re
sponsibilities of the home, and day by
day feeling her failing strength I'M
equal to the increasing demands upon
1T; the conscientious pastor, the faith
full Sunday schoOl-teacher, the conse-
Grated missionary, the earnest Chris
tlan worker in whatever field his eff
forts may be conferred, find the dis
couragements of their work pressing
heavily upon them and care and worry
setting its mark upon their faces and
weakening the power of their service.
L read not long ago of a dear servant
of the Lord working in the dark places
of one of our large cities upon whom
the depressions of her work rested so
heavily that the resultant care and
worry unbalanced her mind and she
took her own life. Oh, if the joy and
gladness of the message of our text
had gotten hold upon her heart she
would have ceased to carry burdens
which Christ alone can bear, and the
bright sunshine of the peace of God
within her soul would have continued
to shine out in the dark places where
she had been called to labor.
The Christian who lives within the
sphere of the thought of this text is
alive to his own needs and duties as
well as to the needs and burdens of
those about him, but he does not try
to carry them alone, but passes them
along to the great Burden Bearer who
wears the heaviest end of the yoke
and bears the largest part of the bur-
den of the load. Just as my little girl
helped me carry the heavy bundle.
Her chubby hand grasped enc end of
the package, and we walked along
happily together, I carrying the load
while she rejoiced IN the thought
that she was helping papa. Chris
tians are trying to carry burdens
God never intended them to strug-
gle under, and a gloom is being cast
over their lives which is undermining
their faith and wrecking their use
fulness and happiness. Elijah car
ried the burden of the sins of the
children of Israel so upon his own
heart as to be unable to see a single
one of the 1000 in Israel who had
not bowed the knee to Baal. We see
him fleeing before the wrath of the
wicked Jezebel and, broken in spirit,
throwing himself down under the
juniper tree in the wilderness, he
pleads with God to let him die He
has struggled along with the burden
of his work, trying to carry it all
alone, and now, after the glorious
triumph over the prophets of Baal,
all seems to be lost, and his efforts
in vain. Did you ever feel that
way, dear Christian? Well, God was
you and me when He sees us trying
to carry burdens which He alone can
bear. And He gave Elijah nourish-
ment and strength until he could get
into the seclusion of the mountain
Businesses of Horeb, and there God
asks, as He asks you and me some
times: "What doest thou here,
Elijah?"
What doest thou here with that
that encouragement sapping your
strength? Elijah's place was back
there with the 1000, to encourage
them and rally them to battle
against the forces of evil in their
midst. He has been so busy carry
ing the burden of that whole people
that he has failed to see them, and
had run off to the wilderness in his
encouragement. Is not that the way
you do, sometimes, my brother, my
sister? Carry burdens which God
wants to carry for you, and then be-
cause you think you are doing it all
with you, you flee to the desert of
discourag cement and feel as though
you wanted to die. Quit that sort
of thing. Cast all your care upon
Christ, so that you will be free and
Iight-hearted to fight for Him. This
is the first step to having the peace
of God in the heart.
Communion and Fellowship.-And
the second step is taken when we
''in everything by prayer and suppl
cation with thanksgiving let your re-
quests be made known unto God"
In response to Gods query: what
doest thou here, Elijah?" Elijah be-
gins to unburden himself to his Lord.
Ny little girls came running home
from school one day some months
ago, and, rushing breathlessly into
the presence of their mamma, they
threw themselves into her arms and
burst into tears. Their little hearts
were heavy with the burden of ter
rible experience. 1t was some time
before the convulsive sobbing would
give the little tongues a chance to
tell the story Of their grief. At last,