Years ago, Starla and I took our family to the beautiful state of Colorado during the winter season to go skiing. My daughter Summer was too young to ski. However, I didn’t want her to miss out on the action. So I put Summer in a child-safe backpack and carried her on my back up the ski lift and down the mountain on my skis.
I know there are many questions that are going through your mind right now. Try to look past safety issues, legal issues, and parental endangerment issues. The truth is it was legal at that time. I was safe. She was not hurt. We had a good time. But none of that is my point. Try to focus for just a moment.
In the same way that I carried Summer on my back, we are commissioned to carry other’s burdens. What does that actually mean?
When you stop and take time to listen, pray and or assist someone, you are carrying their burden. Even just being there, when no words are spoken, is a big deal. Someone once told me that the greater the grief, the fewer words are needed.
Today’s word is carry.
Many times people think that because they do not know what to say, they don’t do or say anything at all. There is something I call the power of presence. It means just being there. When someone is hurting, burdened or discouraged, there is great value in simply “being there.”
Galatians 6:2 (NIV) Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Carry each other’s burdens. It will make your life better.