Bear and share our burdens

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Galatians 6:2 (RSV)

Yesterday I went to my jeweler, the one who sold my husband and I our wedding rings. He is an honest man and I trust him. When I retired, I had intentions to visit him and turn my diamond wedding band into a small diamond cross pendant to wear around my neck. It was supposed to be a birthday/retirement gift to myself, since I have degenerative arthritis and my fingers are too swollen to wear rings anymore. 

I put the visit to the jeweler off for several weeks after Jon’s accident, but yesterday, I finally found the time to take the trip to his store in Chicago.

The jeweler’s wife was in the store that day. As I was talking to her, I shared my story about Jon’s accident. She had two sons as well, but lost one of her adult sons in a fatal car accident some decades ago. His framed portrait was on the wall in their store. He was only in his early twenties when he died suddenly, and then she whispered to me that her husband never talks about it. 

Her other living son is the father of her grandchildren, just as mine is. They were even of similar ages as my own, hers are 12 and 7 and mine are 11 and 8.

In spite of the sadness of the subject, we both shared our stories with one another. There is a moment of comfort in sharing a grief held in common with someone. I realized afterward that what we actually did was to bear one another’s burdens as today’s scripture says to do.

The loss of her son leaves a sorrow for which she will always mourn. In sharing my more recent grief about Jon’s brain injury, we were able to comfort each other and bear one another’s burdens. God sends us people who are suffering in a similar way, like an ointment, or a momentary balm of comfort.

I left the store, not only with a beautiful new diamond cross, but with the blessing of having a chance to share someone’s burden which she has been carrying for decades. 

There is always someone else who is also going through whatever we are currently experiencing, and God leads us to the right people at the right time to lighten and bear one another’s burdens.  

May God continue to lead us in His perfect timing, to the particular people to bear and share our burdens with. We do not receive explanations, but we know that it is through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God. We also know that there is a blessing upon all who persevere in faith, through all adversities.

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

(James 1:12)

Lord, thank you for sending us people to bear and share our burdens with. Give us strength to persevere in faith, and to keep trusting that you love us and are with us in every trial we go through. Amen

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COMFORT MY PEOPLE

“Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.”

Matthew 5:4 (NAB)

Mourning is defined as the state of emotions of a person to whom something irreversible happened that leads to a feeling of sadness or regret. No one would deny that there are war torn areas of the world today where masses of people are in mourning, but one doesn’t have to live in a nation at war to be in mourning. Irreversible tragic events and shattered hopes can put anyone into a state of mourning.

Although I have lost two good friends to untimely deaths over the past two years, I have learned that mourning is the result of something more than physical death. The death of hope or hope that is shallow and limited to this life only, can lead to mourning as deep as a physical death. We were not meant to live with all our hopes invested in this present life only. 

Paul wrote that if we have hoped in Christ for this life only, (for all of our goals and dreams to be realized here and now), then we, of all people, are most to be pitied.  

(1 Corinthians 15:19)

In recently cleaning out my son, Jon’s storage unit, I discovered a file filled with documents of copyrighted rap songs he wrote, which he was trying to have published. Even though it never amounted to anything, those were his hopes and dreams for this life. Besides running his own small business for twenty years, doing asphalt sealcoating and patching driveways, his hobby was writing rap songs. 

In the last four years of his life, he lived as an atheist, rejecting God, while pursuing those song writing goals. There is something very sad about a person who pursues an ambition or a dream all for this life, without God, only to have those dreams shattered by one disabling accident. 

In his current mental state, he isn’t cognitive enough to mourn over what he has lost, but we, who are his family, are mourning for him. His twin brother, Michael, mourns for him in a unique way, after losing the fellowship of a friend and brother he has known since they were in the womb. 

This whole situation has given me a new perspective about mourning, as I am drawn to what Jesus said about it. I realized that mourning is not just a response to the physical death of someone, but an emotional response to the death of hopes, dreams, friendship and intimacy. 

When Jesus said, 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” His greatest and richest gift is the emotional healing which He offers to those who mourn. Isaiah prophesied of a Messiah who would give us comfort, saying;

”Comfort, give comfort to my people,

says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for….. and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” (Isaiah 40:1-2,5)

Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophesy, by comforting His people and letting His glory be revealed in a way it never was before. He blesses all who mourn by sharing His presence with us. He will comfort us and leads us beyond our shattered earthly goals and dreams. If Jon ever regains his cognitive understanding, I hope he will find comfort in Jesus, investing his hope in eternity. 

There are many scriptures promising restoration, but Jesus is offering Himself as a Comforter to all who mourn. Comfort is for the heart, it brings emotional healing more than physical restoration. It’s like receiving a warm hug instead of being handed a gift, and who wouldn’t want a warm spiritual hug from Jesus?

Lord, in whatever way we are mourning, help us to be blessed with your comfort, so that we, in turn, can comfort others. Give us supernatural assurance that your loving arms are wrapped around us, and reveal the glory of your presence to each of us today. Amen

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