by Russ McCullough

It’s 4:15 a.m. I have been unable to sleep since 2:30 a.m., not an uncommon occurrence, I suspect, among the general population. People fail to sleep for many reasons. My reason happens to be that I woke up worrying about the burdens I carry at my place of employment.

Like many of you, my workplace environment is devoid of Christian principles. My mind raced with thoughts of my burdens and what action, if any, I should take. Soon my thoughts turned to prayer to share my burdens with the Lord.

Comparing Burden to Burden

Then my prayer suddenly ended when I thought that the Lord would find my burdens insignificant compared to the burdens of many of you. How could God care about my burdens at work when ...

... the future of this congregation is so much more important in comparison?

... so many people have no job at all?

... by His grace I remain in good health when so many do not?

... people are starving in the world?

The list is endless.

I soon felt guilty for bringing to the Lord’s attention my burdens, trivial in comparison to the burdens of others. Guilt, wretchedness, and hopelessness threatened to overtake me. Then, when despair over my dilemma was about to shut me down, the thought occurred that God MUST speak to this subject in His Word. He does indeed! What I discovered I feel compelled to share with you.

No Sliding Scale

Some things we understand intellectually and yet do not understand emotionally. For example, we understand intellectually that all sin separates us from God and there is no such thing as a small or large sin in the eyes of the Lord. Emotionally, however, we often wrestle with the guilt of past sins, and their consequences continue to haunt us, even though we know they are forgiven.

God does not grade on a scale of relativity. There is no such thing as being somewhat saved or mostly saved. We are either saved or lost. Period. Jesus said, "You are either for me or against me." We don’t slide in and slide out of salvation several times a day based upon some sliding scale that God uses on us. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

In like manner, NEITHER does God employ some sliding scale of relativity to determine whether or not our burdens are worthy of His care. After reading what God has to say on the subject, I discovered that He does not look at my burdens in relation to the burdens of others in order to decide if He will care about them. Think about it! If God were to do so, He would ultimately only care about the ONE person on earth that happens to be suffering the MOST at that given point in time! All others, by default, would have to carry their own burdens themselves until they moved up the line.

Have Hurt, God Cares

The conclusion to the matter is this: God does not care WHY we are hurting; the hurt alone --regardless of its cause --is sufficient to warrant His total care and attention. Hear what the Lord has to say based upon a compilation of the following scriptures: Psalms 145:14, 17-20, 1 Peter 5:7 and Matthew 11:28-30.

"The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him. ... Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. ... Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Let us reject, once and for all, the theory of relativity and share our burdens with each other while we collectively give them to the Lord to carry.

Russ is a shepherd at the Archdale congregation in Charlotte, NC, USA.