“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”– Gal. 6:2
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but I’ll say it anyway– Christians, including preachers, aren’t perfect. That’s something I’m reminded of everyday. And although we want to be the best we can be sometimes we don’t even come close. We fail more than we like to admit. The spark that ignited my thoughts about this matter was a statement I made in my sermon notes for an upcoming message. Here it is–” As a Christian you need to stop trying to justify your fears by pointing out the severity or size of your problem. We never have a problem that’s too big for God. He is able”. That’s true and easy to say, but preaching is one thing and practice is another.
It is a sad fact that we are sometimes so troubled by our troubles that we act as though God is dead, mighty sick, or out of town and unavailable. Of course we know better, but our mind tells us one thing and our emotions something else. And pretending we’ve got our act together might hide our faults from others, but it doesn’t help us. Nor does it help if we dump our wagon load of worries on others– something that can be hard to resist. Sometimes we feel like shouting our problems from the mountain top for the whole world to hear. However, the Spirit whispers in our ear, ” every man shall bear his own burden” ( Gal. 6:5). In other words, we shouldn’t burden others with our burdens. But that raises a question, “If we can’t share them and we feel we can’t bear them, what do we do?” And make no mistake, we all sometimes feel that our burden is more than we can carry. What then? The only solution is found in Psa. 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee…”.
I mention all this for two reasons. First, to assure you that help is available. Second, to remind you to be patient with others. Some are like Job when he said, ” ..my complaint is bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning” (Job 23:2). To put it another way– my suffering is worse than my sighs, my calamity is worse than my complaint. Knowing others are suffering worse than words can tell ought to move us to do as we’re told in Gal. 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”. There are burdens we can share, burdens we must bear, and burdens we can neither share nor bear. The only thing that keeps us going is God’s sustaining grace– it is always sufficient! – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
