Shouldn't we bear each other's burdens?
August 19, 2010Lighten someone's crushing weight
Let's think about some times of
struggle in your life, awful blows that you didn't expect from life.
You know those huge rocks that have been rolled onto your shoulders.
We would agree that unexpected suffering
makes your knees buckle. When things happen what do we do?
My step-brother was a victim of a flood. They went to sleep in their beds with
everything dry, and they woke up in the middle of the night with three feet of
water everywhere in the house.
Do you know what the consequences to the family were?
They were without a home. Just overnight a rock landed on them and their whole world was turned upside down.
One church member helped with the burden and
offered his home to his family of six. How do we respond when tough, hard blows
come out of nowhere?
Some people are paralyzed by such blows. So when these crushing weights make
people fall apart what
should we, as the body of Christ do?
We
should offer practical help, walk alongside them, pray with them, have hope
that they can't have, help give them a sense of direction, help them make
decisions.
We need to spend some time thinking
about the people around us, and ask yourself if there is something you can do
for someone.
Perhaps someone near you is really hurting.
What burden can you lift? What involvement could you have that would strengthen
them and allow them to live a better life?
Perhaps you yourself need to ask for help. You've been hiding, denying, and
pretending about things in your life.
There is a weight that is crushing you, and
you hoped it would go unnoticed. But you know it's there, and you need help.
When the church acts in love to strengthen those who struggle, it offers hope
to those hurting.
There was a time when It was 2 below zero outside and I saw an old man and his two sons trying to get there truck out of a ditch, they were freezing, their faces were as red as red could be. I could’ve drove by but choose to stop. I helped them get it out and I’ll never forget what the old man said. 'You had just enough strength, added to ours, to help us get out of this rut'"
There are numerous people around us who are barely making it over their private hill of despair when, with a helping hand, they could make it.
Posted by Brennan Meakin. Posted In : Dynamic Questions
