By J.R. Miller
"Put any burden upon me--only sustain me.
Send me anywhere--only go with me.
Sever any tie--but the one that binds me
To your service and to your heart."
Fly-leaf, Miss Brigham's Bible
We all have our burdens. Of course they are not the same in all of us. Some are more evident than others. There are people whose burdens we all see. These get our compassion and our sympathy. We come up to them with love's warmth and help. There are others however, whose burdens are not visible or apparent. These seem to us to have no trouble, no struggle, and no load to carry. We envy their lot. But probably if we knew all about their condition which God knows, our envy would change to sympathy. The burdens which the world cannot see--are often the heaviest. The sorrows which wear no mourning clothes, are oftentimes the bitterest and the hardest to endure.
It is not wise for us to think that our load is greater than our neighbor's. Perhaps theirs are greater than ours are, although to us they seem to have none at all. We sometimes wish we might change places with some other people we know. We imagine that our life would be a great deal easier if we could do this, and that we could live more sweetly and beautifully than we do, or more usefully and helpfully. But most likely we are mistaken. If we could change places with anyone, the one who seems to have the most favored lot; if we could take this person's place, with all its conditions, its circumstances, its cares, its responsibilities, there is little doubt that we would quickly cry out to God to give us back our own old burdens. It is because we do not know all--that we think our neighbor's load lighter and more easily carried than our own. We all have our own burdens.
There are three Bible verses about the bearing of burdens. One tells us; that "every person shall bear their own burden." There are burdens which no one can carry for us, not even Christ, and which no one can share with us; we must carry them ourselves alone. This is true in a very real sense of life itself, of duty, of personal responsibility. No one can live your life for you. Friends may help you by encouragement, by sympathy, by cheer, by affection's warm inspirations, by counsel, by guidance; but after all, in the innermost meaning of your life, you must live it yourself. No one can make your choices for you; you must make them for yourself. No one can have faith in God for you. No one can believe in Christ for you. No one can meet the obligations of Scripture for you. No one but yourself can get your sins forgiven. No one can do your duty for you. No one can meet your responsibility for you. A thousand other people all around you may be faithful to their trust; but, if you fail in faithfulness, their faithfulness will not be any avail to you. There is no vicariousness of this kind in life. You must live your own life.
No one can come up in loving interest and unselfishly take your load and carry it for you. A friend may be willing enough to do it--but it is simply impossible. David would have died for Absalom; he loved his erring son well enough to do it--but he could not do it. "The soul that sins--it shall die." Many a mother would willingly take her child's burden of pain as she sees it in anguish--but she cannot do it. There is a burden, which everyone must carry for themselves.
Then there is a second Bible verse, which tells us that "we should bear one another's burdens." So there are burdens in the carrying of which, others can help us. No one can suffer for us--but true human friendship can put strength into our hearts to make us better able to endure our own sufferings. No one can do our duty for us--but human sympathy can nerve us for greater faithfulness and heroism in duty. Sympathy does not take away the pain, nor lighten the load; but it gives companionship, and puts another shoulder under the burden.
It is a great thing to have brotherly, sisterly help in life. We all need each other. Not one of us could get on without others to share our loads. We do not begin to live truly--until we begin to put of our own strength into the hearts of others. We should notice that "Bear one another's burdens" is called "the law of Christ." We begin to become like Christ only when we begin to be of use, when we begin to help others, to make life a little easier for them, their weakness, something of our joy in their sorrow. Even the smallest ministries of unselfish helpfulness redeem a life from utter earthiness.
The third Bible verse about burden is, "Cast your burden upon the Lord--and he shall sustain you." There are burdens we must carry ourselves. There are others, which our friends may help us to carry. Then there are those, which we can cast only upon God.
This promise discloses special preciousness when we study it closely. In the margin of our common Version we find gift "gift" as an alternative reading for "burden." Then in the Revised Version the marginal reading is, "what he has given you." "Cast what he has given you, upon the Lord."
"What he has given you." It may be duty. Oftentimes the burden of duty is heavy. It is heavy with the fathers, who must provide for their families, and hold and fill their places in the world's busy life. It is heavy with mothers, who have the home-care in their hand, with the training of their children. It is heavy with those that have large business interests entrusted to them, which they must manage wisely and faithfully. It is heavy with the minister who watches for souls.
Duty is always enough to fill heart and hand, and sometimes it seems a greater burden than can be borne. But it is "what he has given you," and therefore it may be cast upon God. He will help us in it, and then, we know it comes only for one little day at a time.
It may be struggle with our sinfulness. Life is not easy for any of us. Every day is a prolonged conflict. We desire to live godly--but there is a law of sin in our members, which contests every holy advance. We want to live lovingly--but the natural heart's bitterness keeps breaking out in us continually, in bad tempers, in ugly dispositions, in envies, jealousies, selfishness, and all hateful things. We wish to live purely--but the dark streams of lust ever well up out of the deep, black fountains of our being; staining the white flowers that Christ has planted in our life's garden. Thus the days are full of struggle and conflict, and sometimes we feel that there is no use trying to be godly. Yet this burden is "that he has given you," and therefore we may cast it upon God.
Or sorrow may be the burden. God has no children without sorrow, and in many cases the load seems too heavy to be borne; but again it is "what he has given you," and we may lay the burden on him who is mighty.
Or your lot in life may be your burden. It is uncongenial. The circumstances are unkindly. It seems to you impossible to live lovingly, to grow up into spiritual beauty, and to ripen into Christ-likeness in your environment. But against it is "what he has given you." God planted you just where you are, and when he did it--he knew it was the place in which you could grow best into godly character. He gives you this burden of environment, and you may cast it again upon him.
Our burden, whatever it is, God's "gift," and has a define blessing in it for us, if we take it up in faith, in love. "What he has given" we may always bring to him again, seeking his help in hearing it from him.
We need to notice also, the precise form of the promise. It is not that the burden shall be lifted away from our shoulder, or that it shall be borne for us--but that we shall be sustained in carrying it ourselves. If it is God's gift, it is his will that we should keep it, at least for the time. There is some blessing in it for us, and it would not be kindness to us for God to take it away, even at our earnest pleading. It is part of our life, and is essential to our best growth. This is true of duty; however hard it is, to relieve us of it would be to rob us of the opportunity for reaching larger usefulness. It is true of struggle; all nobleness and strength of character come out of conflict. It is true of suffering; it is God's cleansing fire, and to miss it would be a sore loss to us.
Human love, in its short-sightedness, often seeks to lift away the burdens which seem heavy; but this is not God's way. He bids us keep our load, and then he gives us grace to bear it. He does not, every time we groan under a burden, run up to us and lift it away. This is often our way--but it is never God's.
Parents oftentimes think they are showing deep and true affection for their children when they make their tasks and duties seem easy for them; but really they may be doing them irreparable harm, dwarfing their life and marring their future. So all tender friendship is in danger of over helping in the lifting away of loads, taking hindrances out of the way--when it would help far more wisely, by letting God's arrangement of burden alone. That is not the greatest kindness to us, which seeks to make life, as easy as possible to us--but that which inspires us to do our best, and so to make something of us. Not an easy life--but a God-like character, is the only true aim for a life. Hence, while God never fails us in need, he loves us too well to relieve us of weights, which are essential to our best growth and to the largest fruitfulness of our life. He does not take the load from our shoulder--but instead he puts strength in us to enable us to carry the burden and thus grow strong.
This is the secret of the peace of many a sick-room, where one sees always a smile on the face of the weary sufferer. The pain is not taken away--but the power of Christ is given, and the suffering is endured with patience. It is the secret of the deep, quiet joy we see oftentimes in the home of sorrow. The grief is crushing; but God's blessed comfort comes in gentle whispers, and the mourner rejoices. The grief is not taken away. The dead is not restored. But the divine love comes into the heart, making it strong to accept the sorrow and say, "May Your will be done."
