Being Bitten and Bearing Burdens (Friday Devotional)

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

 

- Galatians 6:2

 

At a church fellowship this past weekend, I took a bunch of the kids outside to run off some energy with a game of baseball. Before long, my son hit the ball into a line of bushes along the side of the building. So, dutifully, I got down on my hands and knees to retrieve the ball.

 

…and stuck my left hand directly in a fire ant pile.

 

As you might expect, it took all of 2 seconds for me to realize what I’d done. I frantically started swatting at the one hand with the other, trying to brush all the ants off as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, by the time I was all clear, I’d acquired 18 ant bites, most under my watch band and wedding ring. The damage is done—all that’s left to do now is periodically apply some hydrocortisone cream and wait for the itching to stop.

 

That experience got me thinking about the way problems typically crop up in life—problems far more severe than a few bug bites. When you are hit with a crisis, there is usually a moment of intensity—the appointment when the doctor tells you the cancer is spreading, the meeting when you find out you’ve been laid off, the day you are handed divorce papers. And when we think of hard times, we usually think of those intense moments, when your hand is wrist deep in the ant pile.

 

But in truth, life’s greatest trials last longer than those instances of peak intensity. As shocking as those singular moments are, they are inevitably followed by much longer periods of adjustment, treatment, and, hopefully, healing. After the funeral comes the grieving, after the break-up comes the loneliness, after the car accident comes the endless calls with insurance adjustors. Reminder after reminder of what you’ve experienced, a constant itching.

 

Pain in this world, sadly, is far from momentary—it ebbs and flows, but is never absent for long. So in the face of this sobering reality, it is incumbent upon God’s people to shoulder each other’s loads, to bear one another’s burdens. God called his children to come together as the church so that, as we await Christ’s return, we would not be overwhelmed by the brokenness of the world in the meantime. Your brothers and sisters in faith are here to lift you up when you struggle, even as you are called to do the same for them.

 

Trying to pursue faith as a solo endeavor is a fool’s errand, not to mention an act of disobedience. Your church family needs you, and you need them—not just when life is biting you, but to help you heal when you’ve been bitten. Life is too long and suffering too real to persevere alone—turn to those God has given you to help and to be helped.