Carrying the Weight of the World Around With You?

There is always one person who knows exactly how you feel.

Some seasons of life are brutally busy. I have been in one of those seasons of late. More out of town for work than in town. Hotel beds. Travel. Hours spent staring through the windshield. Long days and nights spent on location and in front of a computer screen seeing very little progress. My writing time has suffered as I can't seem to drag my butt back to the computer screen to write after sitting in front of it for hours on end each day. And my capacity to think deeply is diminished as I just keep trying to put one foot in front of the other. In some seasons, it feels like the weight of the world is sitting square on your shoulders and you're losing your grip on it.

Add all this to the fact that leadership can be lonely. Daily, challenges and problems arise that can't be worked through with the masses. You hold painful truths and realities close to the vest as you seek God's wisdom and guidance in developing and coaching people while working delicately through complex problems that take much longer to fix than most realize. Again, it all sits on you like a weight. It is easy to forget in these seasons that we have a heavenly Father that understands. As Jesus walked this earth and especially as he started his earthly ministry, he too carried the literal weight of the world on his shoulders. We read in

John 2:23-25

23 Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. 24 But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. 25 No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.

Can you imagine the weight Jesus carried on him knowing what was in all men's hearts? He knew and understood the full scope of human nature. I struggle sometimes wondering what makes people tick. Why would they say something like that? Why would they act that way? Yet, I think worse than the wonder would be knowing exactly why people act the way they do. God told us in

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Jesus knew the sin, the pride, and the jealousy that was in the human heart. It weighed on him no doubt. He also knew he came to earth to die for those very sins. Talk about heavy. However, there is amazing beauty and hope in the incarnation of Christ. Yes, we have a victorious King Jesus who overcame sin and death sitting at the right hand of the Father cheering us home, but our King is also intimately acquainted with our weaknesses and limitations. Hebrews 4 puts it this way,

Hebrews 4:14-15

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

It is easy to get cynical and critical of others when they let us down. Easier still to let the "let down" drag us down like a heavy weight. But I am not perfect either. My heart is deceitful above all things, and I desperately need the mercy and grace of Jesus. So, this article is a much-needed reminder to me and hopefully an encouragement to you to carry your weight to the throne of grace...with confidence. Jesus is always there to ease the burden and help in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.