Reflection #2 on "Million Pieces" by Newsboys  [song lyrics]

• originally released by solidsounds.org, 03/25/2003
• author: Suzy C.
• scripture reference: Matthew 11:28-29

	From the album "Thrive" (2002) Read the song lyrics...

'Cause when you lay your burdens down,
When you lay your burdens down,
When you drop them burdens,
What a free-fall!
What a thrill!
Bury them all
In a landfill.

In the song, "Million Pieces," the Newsboys talk about the freedom we can have when we lay our burdens down. There is nothing like getting a load off your shoulders.

I was a graduate student for years. I have permanent dents in my shoulders from the huge backpack I had to carry. I am certain that I hauled around a weight equivalent to a compact car in that pack. Carrying that thing was clumsy and slowed me down. I found it hard to get through tight places. I felt self-conscious carrying that pack and no matter where I went, it was always there, never far from my reach, waiting for me to pick it up again.

But for years I carried an emotional burden that was even heavier than that pack. This burden seemed to weigh me down, slow me down, hinder me as I tried to move forward into new situations and new relationships. No matter where I went or who I was with that old burden was there, within easy reach of my emotions. I could pick it up anytime and be miserable.

My personal burden was unforgiveness but emotional burdens can be of many different types: disappointments or fears or grief to name a few. No matter what the burden, the effect is the same: you cannot truly enjoy your life. This is not the way Jesus wanted our lives to be.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS" (Matthew 11:28-29 NASB).

Heavy-laden, that's what I was. Unforgiveness was my emotional load and I bore it a long time. But Jesus wants to give us rest from our burdens. Finally, I did what Steven Curtis Chapman sings about in the song "Million Pieces," I laid it down. I gave it up. But I had to release it; I had to let it go.

My feelings did not immediately change, but whenever I was tempted to pick up that unforgiveness burden again, I refused. I would think about the Lord and how He forgave me. I would think about my friends, my work, anything but that burden. And after awhile, I realized I had not thought about it in a long time.

The end result was that I was free. Something terrible that happened at age 8 was finally gone at age 21. I was free! You can be too. But you must lay your burdens down and learn more about Jesus. When you do, He will give you the rest you crave and that burden will dissolve into a million pieces.

--Suzy C.

Scripture Reference: Matthew 11:28-29