Helping to carry
“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.” ~~Matthew 11:28-30
I often joke that my superpower is holding. My husband is a handy guy. He fixes almost everything that needs repair in the house or our vehicles. It’s great. When he calls me to help him, I know what I’ll be doing: holding. “Hold this light so I can see.” “Hold this part while I push this in.” “Put your hands right here to hold this straight.” Usually, I’m fine with my holding job. Once, though, it was terrible. I held the garage door open while Randy stretched a new spring that enabled it to go up and down. He strained mightily to stretch that stiff spring, and I started to tremble as I tried to keep the door up. I worried I would kill him if I let go, and I truly didn’t know if I could make it. When he moved aside and finally said, “Okay,” that door SLAMMED to the ground.
When I hear this verse about Jesus’ easy yoke and light burden, the memory of that garage door repair often comes to mind. I could have used another person to help hold that weight! The verse evokes a beautiful image — Jesus coming beside me and taking a part of my burden like a friend taking one side of a heavy box while I take the other, then both of us walking to where we will lay it down.
The other day, a friend and I were talking about our tendency to worry. We shared how our thoughts sometimes spiral down and down, from one bad possibility to another, to another. I said that when that happens, it helps me to imagine Jesus beside me, taking the burden of my worry. I often imagine pairs of angels all around me — Jesus at my side, a pair of angels above me, another pair on my other side, another pair in front, another pair behind, and one pair even underneath me. She asked, “Does it take away your worry?” My answer: “Well, no, not all of it. But it helps. It helps to have someone sharing the load with me. Like when a friend helps you carry something. It makes a big difference.”
Sometimes just having a friend beside you helps, even if she is not saying anything. One of the most poignant examples I know of this is a scene in the movie “Little Miss Sunshine.” The brother in the family, Dwayne, finds out he is colorblind, which means he will not be able to fly jets, his lifelong ambition. He goes a little berserk, spewing angry words at his family, cussing and yelling, then collapsing to the ground. No one knows how to help. Finally, his little sister Olive goes to him. She just squats beside him, puts her arm around him, and leans her head on his shoulder. (clip starts at 4:20)
Like little Olive, sometimes remembering Jesus’ presence beside us, even if there are no words, lightens our burden.
Jesus is not only beside and around you, he is in you and you are in him. He is love. His presence with you is love.