Carrying Your Own Load

^“For each one should carry their own load.”  —Galatians 6:5

My first “real” job was working for a carpenter in the summers. I lied (Is stretching the truth really a lie?) about my age so he would hire me. I was 16 and my birthday was coming in a few weeks. I told my boss, I was seventeen (well almost) and my birthday was in July. Later, I asked him what he would have done if I would have been injured on a construction site, he replied, “I figured you lied to me, you’d have to lie to the insurance company, too.”

My first day on the job, we were building an addition to a church, how ironic. Being the youngest man, or boy, on the crew and having never worked on roofs, I struggled to keep up fumbling to get roofing nails from my pouch to my hand and into my two fingers for nailing while trying to hang on. Working in pairs, my partner nailed three nails for every one of mine and also had to put the next shingle in place. They began to call me “cub bear.” I looked and acted like a clumsy cub bear. Not fun.

Remembering those early days of roofing, I sympathize with many folks in the workforce today continually being asked to do more with less. As persons retire, they are often not replaced. As corporate America down-sizes to cut cost, the remaining employees are expected to work harder to prop up the bottom line. I see many lives fumbling to hang on and running faster to keep up.

Right now, many of us are beginning to deal with our tax situation. The discussion of fair share comes up in life, work, and taxes. It seems on every side we are being asked to do more with less staff, to be involved in more things with less time in our schedule, and give to more needs with less money. How do we live faithfully in this time of history?

First, we have to believe the Lord is bigger than our circumstances. God knows our job, our neighbors, and our family. God may have us in just the right place for us to grow into His likeness and be a witness for Him.

Second, all the money we have is really the Lord’s. We are simply stewards trying to faithfully use the money God has entrusted into our hands. When we die, we will not take it with us. Let us spend it for heaven’s sake. Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).  Life, pressure, and faithfulness are about priorities and trusting God.

The scriptures describe an interesting paradox in life and ministry. On the one hand, we are told, we should each carry our own burdens (Galatians 6:5), Later we find, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Paul goes on to say, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians. 6:2). Although the old adage, “10% of the people do 90% of the work” is true to some extent in every church, I envision a church where everyone prays, gives, and does their share.

The paradox in Galatians 6, carrying our own load versus bearing each other’s burdens, is beautifully concluded in verses 9-10, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Let us not become weary because, in the Lord, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Opportunities to help others are placed before us by God so we may be channels of His love and resources on the earth. Hang in there, God is not through with us yet. Anywhere God leads, God will provide. We can trust Him.