burden bearing – m to the 5th

“Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

The above is one of my favorite quotes. It serves as a reminder to me, one I need daily, that the people around me are likely dealing with and enduring hard and painful trials that may not be known or be visible to me, but are nonetheless very real. If truth be told, we are each one “walking wounded” through this world and through this life. Sometimes our battles get the better of us and our burdens become unbearable. Must be why Paul said in his letter to the churches in Galatia –

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Good advice but how do I live this out on a daily basis? What about when my own burdens are so heavy that I fear I will fall beneath their weight, unsure if I have the strength to get up again and move forward. There are days when my burdens threaten to bury me alive. How then can I possibly bear someone else’s burdens in addition to my own? And yet, that’s exactly what my Heavenly Father asks of me, to enter into other people’s lives in this meaningful way. Paul says in Romans –

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15)

Currently, it seems everyone I know is fighting a hard battle, and I feel the weight of each struggle as if it is my own. Some are literally fighting for their lives. And yet, as I join my friends in bearing their burdens, somehow my own burdens don’t overwhelm me after all, but rather they seem to take a back seat as I make room on my shoulders for someone else’s load. I am happy to sit with them, to let them know that they are not alone and to bear their burdens with them in prayer to God. Maybe, that’s why you and I are instructed to “bear one another’s burdens” – because a burden that is too heavy for one person, is manageable when it is shared. These words confirm that this is so –

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

But if I continue to share in my friends’ burdens, how will I not eventually be buried alive under the sheer weight of them all? It is because I have Someone who bears my burdens, Someone who invites me to unburden myself saying –

“Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

My Heavenly Father is willing and able to take the load from my shoulders and from yours, and to replace it with what He has to offer to me and to you, dear readers. Jesus’s invitation to those of us who are weary and worn out from carrying our own heavy loads daily is this –

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

That’s a really good offer. Actually, there has never been a better one. I’d be foolish not to take Jesus up on such a generous invitation. It’s a standing invitation, an open invitation, an invitation available to anyone who is ready to let go of all they carry with them through life that weighs them down and holds them back, and in exchange receive what God wants to give each one of us – an easy yoke and a much lighter burden. It’s an invitation I can hardly refuse.

There is no reason for me to continue to live buried alive under the weight of the world’s many burdens and troubles. My Heavenly Father is offering me relief. And because He bears my burdens, He enables me to share in the burdens of those around me who are suffering. This business of burden bearing with others becomes both a privilege and a joy. I am able to do this for others because my Heavenly Father does this every day for me. The psalmist affirms this saying –

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” (Psalm 68:19)

and because God Himself bears my burdens, I am not overwhelmed, I am not buried alive – rather I am able to obey His instruction to bear the burdens of others just as He daily bears my burdens for me.

sincerely, Grace Day

My prayer walking partner does this. She walks weighted. Every time we walk and pray, she wears a weighted vest. I wasn’t aware of this for a long time, actually until last spring when the weather turned warm and her weighty vest was no longer concealed by her heavy coat. I could then see the extra burden she bore as we walked and prayed. Of course, the obvious query is why? Why would anyone willingly choose to carry more weight with them than they absolutely had to. Doesn’t the extra weight make her journey slower, harder, longer than it would otherwise be?

Ironic, isn’t it? My last post was about lightening our loads and now I’m talking about increasing what we carry with us? It would seem I can’t make up my mind these days. However, in my defense, I’ve been thinking about these words in Galatians which give me a very specific instruction –

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Seriously? I already feel the weight of the world on my shoulders more days than I care to admit, and now I’m supposed to add to my load and offer to help someone else carry their burden? their baggage? Impossible right? Well, no because “with God all things are possible.” My Heavenly Father will enable me to do whatever it is that He asks of me. Still, it sounds unduly difficult to me and a bit unreasonable of God to ask such a thing of me, don’t you agree?

I always thought the goal was to travel light through this life, both literally and figuratively. However, if I pay closer attention to what God’s instructions are, I realize that although He does tell me to throw off some things, He also asks me to pick up or to put on some other things. My Heavenly Father tells me to throw off “the sin that so easily entangles” – anything that hinders me and holds me back. My instructions also include this directive –

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” (1 Peter 2:1)

Well, that should certainly lighten my load! Those things are heavy burdens, never intended to be carried with me everywhere I go. But God also asks me to put on plenty of weighty things – namely, God asks me to “put on His full armor”, He asks me to “take up my cross and follow Him” and He invites me to “bear other people’s burdens.”

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Is this really in my best interest, this walking weighted down with armor and my cross and my life’s burdens and now other people’s burdens, too? I guess armor was the original weighted vest. That breastplate of righteousness must have weighed quite a bit, (still does – character building is like weight training for our souls instead of our muscles) not to mention the shield of faith would be weighty to wield as one walked along.

BUT – it turns out, walking while weighted is good for us. That’s why my friend wears the weighted vest. There are benefits to carrying this extra weight around with us. Apparently, it builds and maintains our muscles and our bones, making them strong and keeping them strong. And as it turns out, weight bearing is good cardio, too – meaning it’s good for our hearts. So when Jesus told His disciples “take up your cross and follow Me” He knew carrying this extra weight would produce necessary and desirable results in their lives. Today, Jesus invites you and I, dear readers, into this same weight bearing journey of following Him.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)

Did you catch that? I am to “deny” or throw off some things while simultaneously “taking up” other things. Knowing what to leave behind and what to carry with me on this journey makes all the difference. Fortunately, God’s word gives me some pretty clear guidelines about what to leave behind and what to carry with me, even listing out all the pieces of the armor in Ephesians chapter six. (ie. the helmet, shoes, belt, breastplate, shield and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word)

Some things, like bitterness, unforgiveness, hate, anger, anxiety – these are burdens that destroy me, burdens that weaken me, hold me hostage and keep me paralyzed. However, other weighty things I carry, such as the cross of Christ or the burdens I bear for others, these make me stronger instead of weaker. I become strong in compassion, empathy, unselfishness, helping others. These are vitally important muscles which need to be used in order to be made strong. If I don’t use them, I lose them. (we all recognize that mantra from the gym, right?)

Carrying my cross daily builds my character and my trust in my Heavenly Father. Crosses were notoriously heavy. We know from the account of Jesus’s crucifixion, how He and the one who carried His cross for Him struggled under its weight. But we are told the weight we bear for Jesus and for others is weight we carry with a purpose, for a reason, for a very good reason.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Yes, you and I are growing stronger as we carry our crosses and sometimes shoulder the weight of the crosses of our loved ones as well. (or those of our enemies) As we do this, we are building necessary spiritual muscle and bone. We are strengthening our faith as we walk with our weighted vests (or breastplates and shields etc.) while following Christ. You and I have the privilege of carrying with us something very weighty and very special. God’s word says this about us –

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ ” (Isaiah 52:7)

That’s you and I, dear readers – and that’s another thing we carry with us – the most important thing – God’s Good News. My prayer walk partner and I carry so much more than the weight of her weighted vest with us when we walk – we carry God’s proclamation of peace, salvation, and the assurance and knowledge that our God is alive and well, sovereign and loving. We carry God’s message of redemption and hope, all while wearing His shoes, the shoes of the gospel of peace.

I am definitely walking weighted through this world BUT – if I am carrying the proper weights that God has given me to carry, I will be increasing in strength and stamina as I continue on in my faith journey. In fact, I have this promise as I walk bearing the weight of armor, cross, burdens and the Gospel (God’s Good News is quite weighty in the best sense of the word, having the substance (weight) of truth that stands the test of time for eternity, the power to save lives, to redeem, restore and set free each one who hears and receives God’s message) –

“Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)

you and I will soar, dear readers, all while wearing our weighted vests!

sincerely, Grace Day