Will You Be The One?

Scripture

Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. -Galatians 6:2-4

There are hurting people all around us. Have you noticed? Their traumatic experiences, broken relationships, and health crisis have left them broken, fearful, and depressed. Admittedly it is easy to get caught up in our own life's experiences that other's burdens go unnoticed. We don't think to check in, send a text, and call those around us. Not because we don't care, but we're concerned with other things. However, the scripture above admonishes us to do differently. We are to carry one another's burdens. Burdens literally means 'weights' in the Greek. They exceed the weight of those under them. When we do this we fulfill Christ's law which is to love one another. This is how we love others-it's more than words, but it's getting in the trenches of life with them and bearing their trials, temptations or emotional grief.

I had recently encountered two people who were carrying emotional burdens. I've known both of them for years and I have come to care for them. I saw them on the same day, we embraced, and I asked how they were. It seemed as though they had been waiting to talk because they emptied themselves. Later, I felt heavy and my heart ached. As a fellow believer, my responsibility was to intercede for them. Not simply tell them, "Oh, it'll be alright." It will eventually be alright, but the effectual prayers of the righteous avail much (James 5:16). I take on their burdens and take them to the Lord. Our love for others allows us to feel what they feel so that we can stand as them before the Lord. Beloved, have you noticed the burdens of those around you? 

We should never be too busy to be there for others. If we believe our own cares are more important, then just as the scriptures say, we deceive ourselves. Will you be the one? Will you pay attention? Will you answer the phone call? When the Lord places someone on your mind, will you stop and pray? We play a vital role in each other's lives as believers. We are not meant to walk this Christian journey in isolation, but as a community of lovers of God and each other. Beloved, slow down today, the Lord will lead you to someone who needs you. 

Prayer,

Father, help us discern those who are hurting around us. In Jesus' name. Amen.