June 27, 2024

Burdened

We all have burdens from time to time. Sometimes, the burden is heavy and overwhelming; we cannot foresee a good way out. This is where a friend or prayer partner is helpful. The Bible speaks highly of good friends.

(Pro 18:24 GNB) Some friendships do not last, but some friends are more loyal than brothers.

Some believers regularly schedule time in prayer. Nearly all believers turn to God when their burden is too heavy for them to carry. Mr. Berdind Beleever, hereafter Mr. B, has heavy burdens. He has accepted tasks in several areas of life with the best of intentions, although he has yet to learn how he could accomplish some. Additionally, Mr. B has felt confident in his ability to make things better in other areas. But his belief and sincere intention only sometimes coincide, falling short of his hoped-for outcome. So Mr. B struggles to cope with the burdens, which seem to grow heavier. Mr. B needs help. One afternoon, he goes to a place of prayer. He knows God can help, and with a tear or two, he cries out to Jesus for help. He has chosen to trust in God and act on the following verse to the best of his ability.

(Mat 11:28,29 NKJV) Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The intense feelings diminished at some point to a lower intensity. He knew that he had obeyed God. Mr. B said it is always a blessing when God helps, including this time. This time, there was no sense of abundant victory; it was more like he had the inner peace that could come from obedience to God. Usually, Mr B shuns thoughts that seem disrespectful to God, but this time, one slipped into his consciousness. He wonders, is this all the relief I get?

After a few moments, an idea emerges. It was bizarre, something he had not received in his Christian instruction.

Let us step away from his story for some background information. At one time or another, all people have felt burdened, perhaps defeated, because of no apparent way to avoid failure. Every Christian perspective offers advice for these times. What you are about to read could have been written starting from any mainstream Christian perspective and ending with any mainstream Christian perspective different than the initial one. Christian thought frameworks are many. Examples are the Catholic churches, Mennonite, Armenian, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Shaker, and others that adhere to Christ’s teaching. As a simplification, groups claiming to be Christian but, as a group, hurt people through fear, intimidation, or physical are excluded from our classification of mainstream Christianity due to their actions. We believe that God and only God has a comprehensive knowledge people’s hearts.

Returning to Mr. B’s bizarre idea, he felt he must try something he had never done by temporarily adopting a different mainstream Christian theological framework. He chose one attributed to Theodore Beza as his belief system. He prayed the following: God, you are Sovereign, you are in control of everything there is; when we do good, it is because you willed it; when we do wrong, you are in control, the blood of Jesus Christ covers the sins of the elect, and there is, therefore, no condemnation. We are secure in you and know that you are sovereign, that what appears to be our burdens has been ordained by you for your purposes, which are too high for us to understand. He then prayed I acknowledge your authority in all things, including my failures and burdens. Amen

He was heavily burdened and overwhelmed before entering the place of prayer. After praying, he knew there was a sense of peace by obeying. Then, he had an idea that seemed to have the pattern or essence of being from God. He did what had been unimaginable in his life, more surprisingly, during a spiritual battle. He temporarily adopted a different mainstream Christian perspective and prayed according to its teachings. He was thankful for the release Jesus had already provided, and now came the victory, joy! From burden to peace to joy, all in the same afternoon.

Two years earlier, if such an idea had been presented to him, he would have quickly dismissed it as not making sense. Two hours earlier, he would have considered it, then judged it as unable to serve a purpose and rejected it.

Mr. B’s final comments were: I entered prayer to seek relief from burdens, and God moved beyond what I could have imagined. He said, now I know that it was never about my burdens. God used my burdens to introduce a new way to help me and others.

Christians care about people; we want to help others. We must all remain in a continued state of “yes” to God’s leading. Mornings we pray to God; I promise to say yes to your leading. In this state of compliance, you have surrendered your will to an exceedingly gracious God, a God that many people cannot imagine. Carefully reread the verse quoted earlier, Matthew 11.29. Jesus, the Son of God, is gentle. HE is gentle with us. Using computers as an analogy, sometimes we know we can’t do it; we ask for divine help, and then God may download to us abundantly. Sometimes, this teaches us how to help others in new ways.

Hours later, Mr. Berdind Beleever pondered with whom to share this unusual experience. If someone else had testified to God’s work this way, he would have many alternative ways to explain it. But no one did. It happened to him.

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