My burden
Ever hear the story about the guy who just couldn’t carry his burden any more, so he asked God to take it from him? God said, “no problem, meet me at this address.” The address turns out to be a warehouse, God unlocks the front door and lets him in. The space is filled with packs and parcels of all kinds. God says, “you can put down your burden and find another one that suits you better.”
Short version of the story, the guy tries them all and some were pretty close to perfect, almost the right size and weight and shape, but he was determined to find the just-exactly-right one. It was a huge warehouse so it took quite a while, but he did find it in the end, a tiny little brown backpack near the front door. Turns out it was the one he’d laid down when he walked in.
I have occasion today to rejoice that my burdens are my burdens. When I look at what some other people have to carry, I am grateful that I do not. Yet I feel no pity for them, nor should you ever pity me for what I’ve been chosen to bear. You see, I think our burden matches our design. I think I am capable of walking alone because I was built with a higher tolerance for introversion. In fact, many of my processes are recharged in solitude. I think I can withstand not having money, because my eyes are fixed on the promise-giver who told me I would make it. I think my skin is thick and my will is fierce and that is built into me because it will be called out of me. I think you’re similarly designed, and your strength will be revealed to you by the burden that has been chosen for you.
I don’t know what you have to bear today, but I think you were designed to carry it. I understand weariness. I know fatigue and exhaustion that come from trudging mile after tired mile, no relief on the horizon. But I tell you this: You can make it, and you will make it. Because your burden isn’t just a bag full of rocks. It’s stuffed with purpose and destiny. If you carry it long enough and learn to rejoice in its load, you are growing ever closer to the person you are meant to be.
I’ve seen enough despair. You can do this. Get up. It’s the right size for you. You’re the right size for it. The designer didn’t mistake you for someone else.
“Every man thinketh his burden is the heaviest”--Bob Marley
Thank you for that. I have often felt both blessed and stressed from my burdens. But in the end they are often blessings that far outweight my burdens.
You’re welcome. And thank you. You are graceful, my friend, and strong
I agree that we are given the right amount of burden, and we can bear it with the help of Friend, Jesus (His grace is sufficient for me).
Thanks for your uplifting thoughts!
Thanks Lenn. What you say is truth. I know it. It still hurts, though.
sometimes I just think, I’m happier with my own burdens, because they are what I am familiar with… I’ve learned how to deal with them. someone else’s are foreign and seem much more challenging. There was a day once upon a time that I decided that I am me, and I wouldn’t want to be someone else. I absolutely have down and depressed days, but all in all, it makes for a much happier, contented person to just be comfortable and gratefully to be who you are, who you are designed to be.
What if burdens are like the PR numbers on the whiteboard in the fitness training room? What if I feel a certain satisfaction every time I see the burden grow simply because I know I’m getting stronger and that’s why He’s putting more on the bar?
I think that’s a good perspective, Lenn. I remember doing those deadlifts while seeing my number and thinking, “Well, I did that much certainly I can do something more.” I’d tell myself that when I was getting close to that number and thinking that there is no way I can beat it. It’s too hard. It hurts my hands, it hurts my thumbs, and what if I drop it?
Now, it would be much easier if I had a poster on the wall that I could use to chart my progress. Numbers and charts motivate me. It’s a nice little package.
Speaking of package…when that guy prayed for me and said I’d be getting extra peace made it sound like a package with how he was describing it with words and hand motions. I got me a package of peace. Hmmmmm