Heavy lifting.


My moving days are over. I don’t mean I’m not going to move again but rather that the days of me physically, personally lugging furniture and heavy boxes is done. We’ve moved around a lot and the last couple of times I realized that it was well worth it to hire someone else to do all the heavy lifting thereby saving my back from aches and pains. 


As a Pastor and Hospice Chaplain I’ve carried many burdens over the years. I’ve discovered however that I don’t have to carry them alone. My Heavenly Father comes along beside me and carries the weight of the burden. In doing so he has made my burden light. 


In today’s verse we are called to carry one another’s burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. But what exactly is this law of Christ? It is the law of love. It is his love that compels us to be a burden bearer for others. Often people feel that they are alone in their struggles. They will tell themselves that no one cares. They convince themselves that no one else understands what they are going through.


This year has been an emotionally difficult one for so many and by the look of things more of the same is to be expected for the next 6 months of the new year no matter how badly we wish that were not the case. What can we do? We can see that others are experiencing the very same difficulties and take comfort in knowing that we aren’t the only ones going through this. 


Our own struggles give us the strength to help others by sharing our burdens and our coping mechanisms. By doing so we make each other’s burdens lighter and easier to carry. Maybe you can’t fix their problem but you can be a compassionate listener. Maybe you have some really good advice that can make a huge difference. Maybe even just a prayer, a hug, a coffee time together can be enough to make the weight seem much lighter. Love does that. Love someone today and help carry the burden.


 

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