PRAYER: Holy and Merciful God, please give me eyes to see, a heart willing to serve, and hands ready to help the people in my path that need a burden lifted. But, more importantly, please help me understand and turn away from my own sin and accept the consequences of my own sin. Lord, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Some burdens are meant to be SHARED, some burdens are meant to be SHED, and some burdens are meant to be SHOULDERED.
SOME BURDENS WE CARRY:
1. The greatest of all burdens which the Christian feels is sin. It is this which makes the whole creation groan, and causes an apostle to cry out, “Oh wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). David also complains and says, “Mine iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psalms 38:4).
2. Bodily infirmities and diseases are in themselves a burden, however, providence may intend them for our good, and finally overrule them for our spiritual advantage.
3. Worldly losses, trials and difficulties, are the burden which some are called to bear, and of these there is a heavy load. The unkindness and ingratitude, the malice and opposition of enemies, press heavily on some: the lack of dutifulness in children, and the breaches made by death, on others: and an endless train of disappointed hopes and expectations attend on all.
4. A state of distance from God, and the hidings of His face, are a great grief and burden to the believing soul. “Thou hidest Thy face,” says David, “and I am troubled.”
BURDENS WE SHARE:
Every day of life here on earth brings to us it’s own assortment of burdens, and we will be blessed to study God’s answer to the question, “What do I do with my burdens?”
Some burdens are meant to be shared [by others] - Examples of burdens to be shared:
Forgive faults and failures of others
When a fellow believer stumbles and falls into sin [not those who CHOOSE to live in sin], rather than pointing accusing fingers or shooting our wounded, we should reach down and give them a helping hand to lift them up, and help them get back on track. We are supposed to encourage/strengthen one another when it comes to faults and failures.
Comfort during sorrow and grief
RUTH 2:13 Then she said, "I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants."
So lift a burden with a kind word or note…because some burdens are meant to be shared. Make your Faith Promise pledge to Missions, read their prayer letters, pray for them because some burdens are worthy of sharing.
When you choose to take on someone's burden know that you are entering a personal relationship with them. And, it will take both, time, effort and discipline on your part, to reach and share this burden. Pray for guidance and strength from the Lord and seek His direction.
BURDENS WE SHED
When it’s more than you can bear and you don’t think you can take another step, you can lay it on Jesus.
For some reason sometimes, we feel like we can make it ourselves. But there are times when we need to let go and let God!
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).
God is more than able and willing to carry your burdens and give you the daily strength you need. One of these two things will happen when we cast our burden on the Lord:•
1. The Lord will lift the burden I’ve seen people have a health need, and they pray, and it goes away. Financial need…and God provides the money. It’s always great when that’s how it happens. But that’s not always how God works…Look again at Ps. 55:22 which says, “and He shall sustain it” ??? No, “He shall sustain thee.”Sometimes the Lord doesn’t lift the burden…sometimes...
2. The Lord will lift you. The Apostle Paul is an example of this. Three times He asked God to lift a burden he was carrying. We preach about it and say that God’s answer was “no”, but I’ll give you grace. But really, three times God said yes…I’ll lift that burden, and you too!
Some of you are getting bitter toward God because you’ve asked Him to lift their burden and it doesn’t seem that He has…but please realize it may be His will to lift you up, and carry you and that burden through it all. But when we throw a perpetual pity party we don’t allow Him to carry us or the burden either! And let’s be patient and kind, understanding that everyone has burdens.
Jesus is our great burden bearer.
Sometimes we cling to a burden and try to carry it ourselves. We can be deceived into thinking God wants us to carry something by ourselves as if we are somehow serving God by doing so…but He wants to carry for us, if we’ll only ask Him.
BURDENS WE SHOULDER
We must shoulder the consequences of our own sin.
We live in a day and time in which people want to sin and ignore the consequences. [avoid them].
The attitude today is: “it’s not your fault…it’s the way your parents raised you”. Dominating mother/rejecting father/mother gave you oats too early/made you play with dollies/what your “ex” did to you or your boss, etc.
We are not minimizing the affects our past can sometimes have…but saying that in Jesus Christ you CAN get past your past!
When you take on the former attitude too far, you are shrugging off all personal responsibility for your life…you develop a victim’s mentality and everything is someone else’s fault.
We’re in a mess today as we don’t take personal responsibility for the choices that we make!
Let’s not wallow in self-pity and allow our tragedies to be wasted…God wants to use them for good in others. Many of you have been through things that uniquely qualify you to help others. But let’s be patient and kind, understanding that everyone has burdens.
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