28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

The other night my wife, son, dog, cat and I were all snugly seated on the sofa, watching The Incredibles.  And I learned a valuable lesson: if you’re going to be a superhero, don’t wear a cape.

They’re dangerous.

They get you sucked up in jet engines, caught on ledges… They cause any number of entanglements that will put you in mortal danger.

I also learned that trying to be a superhero when you are not – trying to live beyond your capacity for self-aggrandizement – is a bad deal.  

How often in life do we feel like we need to be a superhero – for ourselves or for others?  Sometimes it feels like we need to don a mask and cape just to survive the day.  The burdens in our lives and the lives of those around us get so heavy that we end up bogged down.

Smooshed.

We can’t do it all.  We can’t fix everything.  We cannot make all of life right.  Superhero is not part of our job description.

What we can do is lay down our heavy yoke of burden and take up the yoke of Christ.  We can choose to take off the burden of sin, of shame, of hardship and pain and sorrow.

And we can face life with faith in Jesus.  We can believe that God has it all in control.  We can accept the fact that we cannot go it alone.

One of the many remarkable things about faith is the strength it brings.  We are not responsible for the end results.  We are called to believe in Christ, to find strength in God (not self or other people), to love others and be salt and light…  When we realize these things and let God rule in our lives, fully trusting in His faithfulness and love and grace and mercy, that we find the strength we need – His strength – to face life with peace and hope.

To focus on God and not troubles.

To help others with their burdens.

To be salt and light, an shining example of Christ.

To be who God created you to be.

Today, cast off your burdens and cares.  Turn to Jesus.  Trust Him with your situations, your journey, your life.  

And take off that cape.  You don’t want to end up sucked into a jet engine, do you?