Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
Most kind and present Lord Jesus, the call to shoulder-up-under the burdens of friends and family immediately drives me to you today. For otherwise, I would simply turn and walk away, just like the priest and the Levite… very unlike the good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37)
Jesus, it’s only because you’ve born the full burden of the law’s demands and judgment for me… It’s only because you say to me, “Cast all your care upon me, for I care for you” (1 Pet. 5:7)… It’s only because you call to me, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)… that I will risk what’s involved in bearing the heavy burdens of others.
Here’s what I ask and need from you, Lord Jesus, as I seek to love the heavy-burdened friends you’ve given me. Help me not to be afraid of the emotional messiness that certain burdens bring. Help me know how to rely on your presence more than I rely on my words. I want to be aware of my limits, but MORE aware of your limitless mercy, grace, power and peace.
For the woman who just got confirmation that the mass in her breast is malignant… for the dad who just lost, yet another job, in this fragile economy… for the couple whose two-year wait to welcome their adoptive child just ended childlessly… for the parents who’ve spent all and who are spent from trying to rescue their daughter from the ravages of an eating disorder… for the friend who preaches a powerful gospel, which bears fruit in “everybody’s” children but his own… for the friends who are having to pay a great price for a misdiagnosed medical condition… for the couples who are sleeping all alone in the same bed… for those who tell me, “This is too much, I cannot go on”…
Jesus, I bring all of these friends to your throne of grace, and I will seek to fulfill “the law of Christ”-the law of love… the way of the gospel, as you give me strength, wisdom and grace. So very Amen, I pray, in your persistent and sufficient name.