At the Catalyst conference this year in Atlanta, Chuck Swindoll said, “God can not pour his riches into hands that are already full.” While preparing to preach to our community about singleness this week, I began to observe all of their anxiety over meeting that future spouse. I’ve watched our men become so controlled by what they don’t have that they can’t be consumed by the grace they do have! I watched too many of our young woman lower their standards and fail morally because they did not trust that the Lord would give them the man who truly would become their partner & spiritual leader. What I am most distressed about and what hurts me the most is to watch these people I love carry this weight & burden. I see the exhaustion in their eyes & I simply want them to experience the grace that comes from total surrender. I want them to know they can trust God to carry that weight for them!
During the process of observing this weight others carry, I began to realize the many weights piled upon my own back. I wondered, are my hands so full most days that I can’t really experience what God desires to give me? The answer is a resounding yes!
The list of items, which weigh me down, is much too long to share. I’m so far from where I’d like to be, but I want to make sure I share a few of the major weights in my life with you over the next few weeks.
“The Crowd”
If you are involved in ministry, or if you simply love those around you, then you know what it feels like to want something more for someone than they want for themselves. You know the pain of carrying the weight of those who won’t listen, won’t obey, won’t change, won’t repent, won’t forgive, won’t believe, and ultimately won’t experience the fullness of all the Lord has to offer.
Moses knew this in Numbers 11
Church people complaining, because as Matt Chandler says, “church people were so different back then.” I love Moses’ breakdown because I find myself praying the same prayers sometimes. “When will the complaining stop? When will there be a moment of peace? What did I do this time?”
V.14 kills me because I know this feeling – “I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.”
What I really want is to hear the Lord give Moses a pep talk, to tell Moses that he is good enough, strong enough & capable of carrying this burden alone. I want a gentle God here, who builds up Moses’ self esteem. Maybe this is the issue I struggle with because God never wants me to build up confidence in myself. He wants me to build up my confidence in Him. So, he simply says, “bring me 70 of Israel’s elders.”
Bring it to me! Bring them to me! Lead them to me! Point them to me! Your right Moses, it is too much for you. The weight of pastoring, the weight of the burdens we carry as ministers is much too heavy for all of us. But the God we serve is the God of giving as well as receiving! He gives us the grace to survive, and receives the burdens of the people, the people we serve, the people He created, the people whom He loves much more than I ever could.
What is the weight that you carry that you need to bring to Him?