Five Minute Friday – Carry

Raised on a farm, I’ve carried a lot of things.

I toted bales of hay and straw, buckets of feed and water for the livestock, shovelsful of manure, and countless tools back and forth to my dad –after searching endlessly for where he last left said tools, of course. I’ve also cradled newborn calves, piglets, kittens, puppies, chicks, bunnies, and countless other creatures that seemed to find their way onto our property.

Most of these items came alongside some mess.
The straw and hay were dusty and dirty, as were the buckets of feed.
Water often sloshed, soaking my pants and boots.
Tools left streaks of grease and rust on my hands.
Newborn animals arrived coated in blood and birthing goo.
And the manure, well, that’s pretty self-explanatory.

The facts are, carrying things can get messy. Especially when it involves human hearts. And yet we are called to help others tote their mess.

God’s Word issues the challenge to carry each other’s burdens. By doing this, we are fulfilling the charge to love one another as He has loved us.

But sometimes moving in close and bearing another’s brokenness breaks us, too. Shared grief means that we experience sorrow and shed tears we’d rather not.

Sometimes it means we force ourselves to walk alongside people struggling with addictions or sinful habits.

Sometimes it means we limit our own longings to help brace up the crumbling dreams of another.

Sometimes sharing burdens is just downright exhausting. That’s why we need a place to land.

The heaviness of burdens is borne best when we carry our friends to Jesus, lifting them in prayer and entrusting the result of the journey to Him.

The perfect example of this is displayed in Luke 5 when a group of pals carried their paralyzed buddy to a rooftop, tore a hole in the roof, and lowered the man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

There’s no doubt they went out of their way for their friend. But thankfully, they took Him to the right place. They took Him to Jesus and determined that he would have an audience with the famed Healer one way or another.

At the end of this encounter, the man not only walked away whole he also walked away forgiven of all his sins. And praising God. Transformed from the inside out.

Oh, that we would carry our friends and their burdens to the Savior. And have the same heart in knowing that getting them there is on us, but the working of miracles is His to perform.

It’s true that friends carry each other’s burdens.

But true friends carry their friends to Jesus and believe He will be enough for every shared load.

Enough to transform us from the inside out.

And find us praising God.

Together.

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This post is written in conjunction with https://fiveminutefriday.com/2022/03/03/fmf-writing-prompt-link-up-carry/ Teaming up with an online group of writers who encourage others to share the words God has given them. The gist is to write for five minutes on a one-word prompt, then post your writing and link up with others who do the same — no overthinking, no deep editing, just free-writing in a short amount of time.