Share the Load - Martin Wiles

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIV

With more than two thousand miles to walk, he chose carefully what to put in his backpack.

World War II was over, and Earl Shaffer needed to walk it out of his system. He chose the Appalachian (or Government) Trail to do so. At the time, the trail began at Oglethorpe, Georgia, and extended to Mount Katahdin, Maine. Since most of the men had been away fighting in the war, the trail had fallen into disrepair, making the journey more challenging. 

Earl’s motto was “Carry as little as possible but choose that little with care.” And he did. He carried a survival tent, poncho, rain hat, knife, axe, sewing kit, snake-bite kit, cook kit, clothing, and a week’s worth of food. Even though he chose the bare minimum to put in his pack, he still felt overloaded. 

Because of Earl’s training and determination—and because he carefully chose what he carried—he became the first person to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. 

I’ve done a little backpacking myself and know how important it is to choose my load with care. My first extended backpacking trip with my daughter revealed I hadn’t learned Earl’s wisdom. My pack weighed in at fifty pounds, and my daughter’s at thirty-five. Although we had fun, we also experienced misery because of unnecessary weight. Our loads slowed us down and taxed our backs. 

What Paul states in this verse makes common sense. Any burden shared is lighter. Jesus said the load of obeying him was easy, so if following him is causing us misery, we must be doing something wrong. 

Burdens are cumbersome when we carry the wrong things in our life’s pack. They might include bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, immorality, depression, frustration, hurt, or lies. When we carry unhealthy emotions, actions, or relationships, our souls ache. Nor does anyone want to help us bear them. 

Helping others with their loads makes the load lighter. Many people helped Earl along the way, making his journey more bearable. People who took him to get food and supplies. People who gave him a place to stay out of the inclement mountain weather. Giving others permission to hold us accountable, helping others bear their life loads, and depending on God for strength are all vital. 

Don’t try to do life alone. Share the load. 

Father, motivate me to carry others’ loads and, most of all, to depend on you for strength to do so. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Series: The Things We Say - God Won't Put More on You Than You Can Handle - Martin Wiles

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT

“God won’t put more on you than you can handle.” But who says he won’t?

Many a well-meaning Christian has made this statement—or some form of it—to someone going through a tough time. To a woman who has miscarried. To a man who has watched his wife walk out and leave him holding the bag—and everything in it. To the wife who has received the news that her husband has just been killed in the line of duty. Or to the child whose parents keep telling him he’s no good and will never amount to anything.

I’ve heard it said, and maybe have said it myself in the heat of the moment, before I had time to think about what I was saying. Perhaps I just nodded my head in agreement with the one who said it—or agreed with the devastated person who said it to me.

But that statement isn’t the only thing I’ve heard attributed to God or the Bible that wasn’t true —or at least wasn't interpreted correctly. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. Opponents? A handicap? Poor eyesight? Who knows? What it was isn’t important. How he responded was. When God told Paul he would have to live with it, Paul accepted the bad news. Yet, God assured Paul that his grace was sufficient to live with it, move through it, and get over it. After all, God works best when we acknowledge our weaknesses.

The truth of the matter is, God will put more on us than we can handle. If we could handle everything, we wouldn’t need God. And many don’t think they do. They use their wisdom, resources, friends, acquaintances, or addictive substances to get through—all the while proclaiming they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

I suppose I’ve been guilty a few times of thinking I could handle what life threw at me, only to discover I wasn’t as strong as I thought. I crumbled beneath the load—or succumbed to the temptation to find something or someone to get me through.

God puts more on us than we can handle, so we’ll come running to him for guidance and strength. So we’ll realize he created us to live life under his authority and love.

Don’t try to handle life’s burdens on your own. God wants to lighten your load.

Father, thank you for handling my burdens so I don’t have to labor under the load of trying to do it by myself. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Laying Down Life’s Loads - Christina Wooten

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. Psalm 55:22 KJV

I grunted in pain as I lifted my backpack onto my shoulders. My back folded like a tortilla under the weight. The bag seemed to get heavier each day. When I’m as hunched as Quasimodo in twenty or thirty years, I’ll know what to blame it on.

But sometimes, the weight on my back is even less than the weight I carry in my heart. It’s easy for me to allow worry to creep into my life. I forget to release my anxiety, just as I forget to clear out my backpack. This weight could cause problems that may last the rest of my life. But for whatever reason, I refuse to release my burdens.

The psalmist tells us to lay our burdens on the Lord. However, I don’t always believe God can handle the weight.

When my boyfriend first offered to carry my backpack, I hesitated. What if he drops it? I thought. What if he isn’t careful with my stuff?

These concerns were ridiculous. My boyfriend is stronger than I am and can easily handle my backpack. By questioning his abilities, I demonstrated that I didn’t trust his strength—only my own.

Unfortunately, my backpack is not the only weight I hesitate to lay down. Jesus beckons me to give him my stress and worries, but I don’t trust him sometimes. What if he doesn’t care about my problems? What if my burdens aren’t important to him?

Yet, God is strong enough to handle our difficulties. He takes care of our burdens as though they were his own. God won’t let go of them, just as he won’t let go of us. If we give our troubles to Christ, we show the world that we trust him.

We don’t have to cling to our loads. Instead, we can relinquish them to the One who is stronger than we are. Our burdens may be heavy, but his burden is light.

When you feel you don’t have the strength to stand under the weight of life’s problems, allow the Lord to carry your burdens.

Father, I give my burdens to you.

 

Christina Wooten is a college senior studying Performance and Professional Writing. Her love for language and acting has impassioned her to serve God with her words. In her spare time, she also enjoys singing and crocheting. She hopes to continue to write professionally after graduation.

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are a grandparent or just want to hear grandparent stories, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

The Burden Bearer - Martin Wiles

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. Isaiah 53:4 NLT

For the first eighteen years of my life, my parents assisted me with burdens. From teaching me responsibility to getting me jobs to tending to my basic needs, they helped me carry the burdens of growing up. Since then, there have been other occasions when they helped me bear unwanted burdens: when I lost a job, when a relationship failed, when a child rebelled, and when my only car broke down.

Others have also helped me carry burdens. Church members who’ve come to my side when death took a loved one, grandparents who helped me purchase tires for a vehicle, a child who forked over hard-earned money to help me pay a bill, total strangers who helped me free my truck from a snow drift, and a spouse who helps me bear every burden that surfaces.

The ancient prophet told of how the coming Messiah would help bear burdens. He would not blow in on a white horse and conquer Israel’s enemies. Instead, he would bear burdens the first time and conquer at his Second Coming.

The greatest burden Jesus Christ helps carry is sin. We need a burden bearer since we’re born with a sinful nature. On the cross, Jesus bore the sins of humanity. Though paid for in full, the results of what he accomplished are only effective when we ask him to apply the results of what he did to our lives. Forgiveness doesn’t automatically happen.

When we ask Jesus to carry our sin burden, he not only carries but also removes and throws the sin as far as the East is from the West. He also shoves them into the uttermost depths of the ocean. In other words, he eliminates the penalty for this burden: eternity apart from him.

Unfortunately, life also has other burdens that result from living in a world tainted by sin. We also need help bearing these burdens. While others help us shoulder these burdens, only God can do it consistently and permanently. Others will disappoint us—not necessarily intentionally but simply because they are human.

Though the help of others is wonderful and needed, the help of an all-powerful and all-knowing God is crucial. He is the burden bearer who will never leave or forsake us. Let him bear your burdens.

Father, thank you that there is no burden so great that you can’t bear it for me. 

Tweetable: Who is your burden bearer? 

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are an editor who wants to hone your grammar skills or someone who just wants to improve your writing or speaking, this is the book for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.