Burden Bearer

And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens…

2 Chronicles 2:2

There are projects in God’s kingdom that cannot be completed without burden bearers. The stones hewn from the mountain would not carry themselves. They could not assemble themselves into towering walls forming Solomon’s glorious temple. They needed strong arms to carry them.

To think burden-bearing may be one’s assignment!

We talk much about laying burdens down. But some burdens are purposed for God’s glory. When we carry the burdens He assigns, we become part of that purpose.

Jesus understood this. Centuries after Solomon’s temple was destroyed, Jesus would be God’s assigned Burden Bearer. He carried our sin and shame on the cross so human hearts might become the new dwelling place of the living God. He showed us how to bear our assigned burdens.

It is an honor to bear burdens for the building of God’s kingdom. But God’s assigned burden-bearer must be careful how he carries his load.

I have a beautiful bowl handcrafted from a native North African orange tree. The bowl is deep golden brown, inlaid with blond floral patterns. A large, ugly crack from rim to base mars its beauty.

The crack tells the story of a careless burden bearer. In an old city where we once lived, men pulled homemade carts, running through the uneven stone streets to transport loads from one place to another. I often needed their help.

One day after a trip to the mountains, we returned with too many items to carry the long distance from the car to our house. Hailing a cart, we loaded our things and placed the bowl in last, carefully strapping it down.

The burden bearer made it all the way to our door before he lost control and spilled the contents to the marble floor. The bowl was first to hit, and with a sharp crack, it struck the floor and fractured.

I froze, suspended between disappointment that my beautiful new bowl was cracked and embarrassment that I cared so much. The cart puller looked at me with weary eyes that said I have much heavier burdens to worry about than your broken bowl. Without acknowledgment or apology, he held out his hand for payment. He was gone before I could even get mad.

On many days, I am not so different from the weary burden bearer who spends his life running and pulling heavy loads, only to arrive at the destination and drop it all on the floor. Demanding payment, I am in too much of a hurry to address any damage my careless carrying may have caused. I have other things on my mind.

The burdens I tote around are often more fragile than a wooden bowl. My metaphorical cart is laid heavy with responsibility and relationships. People break more easily than bowls, and I am afraid I have done my fair share of fracturing hearts and feelings in my rush to lighten my load and be done with the day’s work.

What if I saw the burdens I carry as an assignment from the King? #perspective Click To Tweet

Those relationships, those responsibilities, might weigh differently against my weary back if I recognized they came from Him. I might slow down. And with slowing down comes careful carrying. Clear seeing. Gentle serving. And in the end, God’s glory.

I want to follow Jesus’ example and bear my burdens with love and grace, eyes on the joy set before me.

The cracked wooden bowl now sits in my kitchen holding my family’s bananas and oranges. In the buttery evening sunlight, it’s as if the burden found a new purpose and value, one appointed by the King. It sits elegant and lovely in the light, overflowing with beautiful fruit.

Lord, change my perspective about my burdens. Help me carefully carry only what You have assigned, and build Your kingdom through me. Amen.

@audreycfrank

Image by Charles Nambasi from Pixabay