Winter has come early! For my family that means firing up the wood stove. Oh, I do love warming up in front of the fire! Enjoying that toasty warmth requires some preparation. We have a good supply of wood from our property. Every winter we thin out part of the forest, collecting wood for future years. This is quite a physical task. There is a lot of chopping, lifting, and carrying. Actually, I’m getting tired just thinking about it. Each tree’s trunk is cut into sections about 20 inches in length. The sections from the base of the tree are the most difficult for me to deal with. They are so big and heavy! I can’t lift them. My only hope in maneuvering a large section is to roll it.

Some things in life are too big to carry. The only way to deal with such things, is to roll them. Believe it or not, “rolling” is a Biblical concept. However, you won’t be able to find it in English. It’s there, in Hebrew. I began studying Biblical Hebrew early last year for several reasons. One reason was to discover the nuances of Scripture that cannot be translated well. These nuances are then lost to English readers. I love digging into Scripture. Let’s dig into this concept together.

Psalm 37:5 (NASB) says, “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”

A literal translation of the Hebrew would be: Roll your path on the Lord and trust Him and He will do.

You can see why this doesn’t work well in English. Even so, it opens up some new angles to consider. The first instruction is to roll our path, our road, onto the Lord. I’d love to discuss in a group what it means to roll our road onto the Lord. The various perspectives would make for a rich discussion.

The decisions we make today create a trajectory for our lives. Yet we have limited influence on our future. There are aspects that are clearly out of our control. Throughout life we will encounter huge decisions, overwhelming circumstances, and difficult relationships. These aspects of life are too big to carry. Thankfully, we aren’t meant to carry them. We are called to roll them onto the Lord. All you need to do is push, rolling it on Him.

Next, we are called to trust God. Trust is an interesting concept. Trust is a belief, choice, and consequent action where one depends on someone or something for safety and wellbeing. Trust is confidently transferring the responsibility of care to the ability of another. Once you roll your burden onto God, LET GO. Think about it. If you roll something, it is done with an open hand. Rolling is not done while grasping and holding. Roll your burden onto the Lord, trusting it fully into His care.

The result of our rolling and trust is God’s action. He will do. I love that it is open ended with no direct object, the “it,” in the original Hebrew. There is no description of what He will do or how He will do it. Our God is not one to be put in a box. He’ll take care of our path and our burdens in a way that only He can. This is refreshingly open, freeing, and powerful.

What do you need to roll onto the Lord? Is there something you simply can’t let go? Let us open our hands and push our burdens and path onto our God’s strong shoulders. He is fully trustworthy and able. He has promised. He will do.

The format for scriptures is different this week. We will consider 5 verses instead of 5 passages. Each verse contains the idea of rolling. No links this week. The NASB text is provided with an explanation on where “roll” occurs in Hebrew, if needed. I have also included a few questions to consider for each verse. I’d encourage you to look up these verses in your favorite translation.

1) Psalm 22:8 – “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
Commit = Roll
– What are we to roll to the Lord?
– What are God’s tasks?
– Why does God do what He does?

2) Psalm 119:22 – Take away reproach and contempt from me, For I observe Your testimonies.
Take away = Roll from on me
– Who is performing the rolling in this instance?
– What is being rolled and in which direction?
– Why can’t we do the rolling in this case?

3) Proverbs 16:3 – Commit your works to the Lord And your plans will be established.
Commit = Roll
– What are we to roll to the Lord?
– What is the result?
– Contrast the difference between works and plans.

4) Joshua 5:9 – Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.
– Who is performing the rolling in this instance?
– What is being rolled and in which direction?
– Define reproach. How is that relevant to life today?

5) Genesis 43:18 (context: Joseph’s estranged brothers were accused of stealing from Joseph, a ruler of Egypt.) – Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys.”
Seek occasion against us = roll on us
– What may be rolled where?
– Why would that be something to fear? How would that be heavy?
– Have you ever felt that someone was out to “roll on you”?