I needed tons of help, otherwise I'd pack WAYY TOO MUCH or not enough.
Basically, experiencing everything within the spectrum of:
"Oh, so I didn't need to bring a fridge?" to
"I forgot my shoes. And also my socks. And also everything else that isn't snacks."
Slight exaggeration, maybe, but you get the idea. ;)
When I pack excessively, bringing everything I can possibly imagine I could potentially need in any given situation, it changes the way my whole trip looks:
Sometimes, I feel like an awesome traveller for bringing something obscure that ended up proving useful. But, most times, I feel like a pack mule weighed down by useless junk heaped on top of where the necessities could have been.
Preparedness is GREAT.
"Over-preparedness-to-the-point-of-back-problems" isn't so great.
But as rough as poor packing can be, a heavy backpack isn't nearly as painful as a heavy heart is.
When I find myself trudging around with a heavily burdened heart, it's time to ask myself a couple of questions:
1. Am I hoarding unnecessary troubles and worries? (John 14:27)
2. Am I being weighed down by temporary and fleeting concerns? (Matthew 6:34)
If I answer yes to either one, then it's time for a serious heart-check to unpack some of that heaviness.
Jesus promises that his 'yoke is easy', and his 'burden is light' (Matt 11:30).
I shouldn't accept the lie that it's ok to settle for a stressed-out, weighed-down, freaked-out heart.
That kind of a burden isn't from Jesus, so I don't have to carry it.
As amazing as it is to remember the life-giving truth that Jesus' 'yoke is easy and his burden is light',
I also have to stop and notice that there's still a yoke, there's still a burden.
In fact, there's a cross.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Matthew 16:24
Dang.
When I think about the heaviness of what that imagery means, carrying the 'cross' and the suffering that comes along with it, I can't help but marvel at this apparent dichotomy in Jesus' words:
One one hand, his burden is light. But, on the other hand, if you want to follow, you must take up your cross.
I don't think these truths are contradictory.
There's a lot that I don't know, so there's plenty of room for me to be wrong in my interpretation,
but I think that Jesus' words shed light on the reality that there are burdens worth bearing, and there are burdens that need to be laid down at his feet.
In this world, we WILL have trouble. We'll bear the weight of afflictions. Guaranteed.
And yet, the incredible truth is that our '...light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.' (2 Cor 4:17)
(Side note- Paul, the dude who described his afflictions as 'light and momentary' had an incredibly rough life; shipwrecked, persecuted, thrown in prison, and eventually killed because of his persistance in following Jesus. And yet, he describes these afflictions as 'light and momentary'. Blows my mind. Paul demonstrating that kind of depth of understanding of his burdens, and the purposes behind what he was carrying, is so incredible to me. He was carrying his cross, while resting under the lightness of the yoke of Jesus.)
I'm still thinking and processing through the verses/ideas I've been sharing in this post, so if you are reading this and have any comments or insights or other passages in scripture which might help deepen my understanding of Jesus' yoke/burden, I'd appreciate that a whole lot :)
Shoot me an email @ untiltheyallhaveheard@gmail.com!
Several people have been asking about what to pray for regarding the internship, so I thought I'd post some prayer needs tonight as well. This will be our last week in the States, so as we are wrapping up our time here and finishing last-second prep details, the more prayer we can get the better!
Prayer needs:
-That God would bless me and my team with good health as we prepare to fly to Asia next week. A few of us are feeling sick, so please pray that healing happens quickly!
-For the people/families we've been encountering on our prayer walks in the refugee communities; that God would help us to develop further relationships with them and that we'd have wisdom and clarity on how to better share Jesus' love with them.
-Logistics concerns; please pray that my coach is able to purchase plane tickets for in-country flights. This would dramatically help us to cut down on bus/van transportation time and quickly move from place-to-place. We want to spend less time on the road, and leave more time for relationship-building among minority people/language groups.
-That God would bless our research projects, and help us to finish compiling and printing the bilingual songbooks in time to take them to Asia.
No comments:
Post a Comment