Share the Load

Exodus 18:22

Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.

Andrew C. Davison wrote about an encounter with Dr. Albert Schweitzer at Lambarene on the banks of the Ogowe River. It was about noon and the sun was beating down mercilessly as a group walked up a hill with Dr. Schweitzer. Suddenly the doctor strode across the slope to where an African woman was struggling with a load of wood for the cooking fires. The 85-year-old doctor took the entire burden and carried it up the hill for the relieved woman.

When they reached the top of the hill, someone asked Dr. Schweitzer why he did things like that, implying that in that heat and at his age he should not. Albert Schweitzer pointed to the woman and said simply, "No one should have to carry a burden like that alone."

We were never meant to carry our burdens by ourselves. God gave us an incredible gift, prayer. When we pray, we get a chance to celebrate God and deepen our relationship with him. We also get to give him our cares and burdens. Think about that! We have access to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We can go to our Heavenly Father with our cares, concerns, and burdens, and he will carry not just our load, he carries us.

We also have each other. People say, “You don’t need to go to church to be a Christian,” and technically the are right. They are also missing out on the blessing of meeting with other folks who can help them with their burdens, and people whose burden they can help carry. We’re all in this together.

Take your cares to God and let him share your load, and also be on the lookout for people who you can be a blessing to as well.

Today’s Readings: Exodus 17-20; Acts 3

For more posts, or to receive these daily via email, go to jerrygodsey.substack.com or jerrygodsey.com