DAILY ENCOUNTER
by Dick Innes ~
ACTS International http://www.actsweb.org
Partnering with NCF Ministries: http://www.ncfliving.org
ON TEMPTATION
AND BURDENS "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ . . . For every man shall bear his own burden." -- Paul (Galatians 6:2,5) A "Daily Encounter" reader makes an excellent case when she says, "You know how people comfort others by telling them, 'God will not put more on you than you can bear?' I think that comes from the scripture relating to temptation but no where can I find that it says God won't allow you to endure hardship that is too hard for you to bear. The apostle Paul said in 2 Cor.1:8 " For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond our measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life." The lady who wrote to me is right. The Bible does say that God won't allow us to be tempted more than we can bear -- but with the temptation will provide a way of escape. This is totally different than the burdens many of us are challenged daily with. True, the Bible teaches how God allows tribulation and burdens to come into our life to help us to grow. But when the burden is too heavy, we are to help one another. Today's scripture appears to be in conflict when it says to bear one another's burdens and then everyone must bear his/her own burden. Forgive me if I've written about this before but there are two words for the word "burden" in this scripture. The first means a burden that is too heavy for any one person to be able to carry alone. The second means a "burden" such as a knapsack -- one that is not too heavy for anyone to carry. In other words, when a fellow Christian is under a burden that is impossible for him or her to bear alone, we are to help . On the other hand, if we carry someone's knapsack for them when they are quite capable of carrying it themselves, we aren't helping them if we carry it for them, but keeping them overdependent and allowing them to use us. In this case neither one of us is being helped. (This is co-dependency). "Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me the wisdom to know when my own burden is too heavy to carry alone and the willingness to ask for help (and help me to find the help I need). And when a friend's burden is too great for him/her to bear alone, help me to see this and be willing to help with their load besides just praying for this person, or expressing to them some empty, meaningless cliché. Gratefully in Jesus' name. Amen." |
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<From Daily Encounter (c) Dick Innes 2000.
Subscribe from: http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm>
DAILY ENCOUNTER is written by Dick Innes
and published by ACTS International, a non-profit
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Dick Innes
ACTS International
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