Sharing our troubles

Philippians 4:14 ESV
Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

How great a blessing it is to have brothers and sisters who are willing to allow one to share one's burdens.  Certainly we all have our own burdens to bear but to take on those of another is truly a good work.

Alone is possibly one of the most tragic feelings a believer can have.  To feel that one cannot share one's burdens is a very sad feeling.  Alone is a tough thing to feel, yet it is all too common among believers.

Yes, we know that He is always with us, but it was not His plan that He be the only one who is there for us.

Galatians 6:2 ESV
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

We are admonished to bear one another's burdens.  This is not optional.  This is an imperative.  But sadly, it is one that is more often avoided than embraced.

We, Patti and I, are wonderfully blessed by folks who are willing to shoulder our burdens both in prayer and engagement.  They may tire under the load but they never put it down. Even when their own loads are heavy and pressing they open their hearts and arms to ours.  It is a great gift and a great part of God's plan for His people.

God does not tell us to "fix" the burdens of others, although if we can we should, but rather to "bear" them.  The primary way we do this is by being willing to be informed of those burdens.  Unfortunately there is little place or time in the life of the Church for such things to happen.  Also, I think that we are afraid to know the burdens of others because they may impose some strong response on our part, some sacrificial response.

Knowing the burdens of another does carry it's own responsibility.  If nothing else, it carries the obligation to really pray for them and WITH them.  It is not the bullet prayer that is needed but the deep, knowledgeable, sincere and focused prayer.  It means entering their battleground with petitions and supplications on their behalf.  It also requires that we stay informed of their needs by staying engaged.  It is a sad propensity for us to hear of a burden and then avoid it for fear we will be called to actually do something regarding it.

We can testify to the wonderfulness of having brothers and sisters who engage, stay engaged and do what they can to help bear the burden.  Just the knowledge that we are remembered, especially remembered in prayer, is a comfort beyond price.  That someone is carrying us to the throne of grace is indeed a great comfort, blessing and encouragement.

Philemon 1:7 ESV
For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.