Don’t be a burden; be a burden-bearer

Everyone is hiding something, and it’s not because they’re deceptive. It’s just that some wounds are too private. When your husband is being insensitive and uncaring, the pain can be too deep to discuss. When your wife wounds you with acid words, you’re crushed inside but you can’t show it. So you both go off, lick your wounds and try to avoid the comments and questions of others.
Is that where you are today, struggling with something too painful to talk about? If so, realise that others are too! Their anger is a symptom. Their aloofness just hides their fear of being known and maybe rejected because they’ve been hurt before. Jesus saw the best in the worst of people and went out of His way to be gracious to them. Do you remember how He treated the woman ‘caught in the act’ of adultery? Public exposure! Can you imagine the depth of her shame? Yet Jesus saw someone worth saving, loved her, lifted her and gave her the strength to do better. We can do that too!
So remind yourself today that others are going through things you don’t know about. They’re crying tears you don’t see and feeling isolated in ways you can’t imagine. Don’t be a burden – be a burden-bearer! Indeed, you may be the only one who crosses their path today. And when you help lift their burden – God will lift yours!

‘Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.’

Mr Peter Morphew
Chaplain