Blessings & Burdens

Blessings & Burdens. We have so many wonderful blessings. God gives us air to fill our lungs, relationships to fill our souls, homes to shelter our bodies. He gives us the beauty of His creation. He gives us the ability to think and create and invent. And we thank God for our blessings, and pray that we always have eyes to see them and never take them for granted.

I think, though, that each blessing comes with a burden. God blesses us with finances that allow us to buy a bigger house, but now we spend more time cleaning and pay more in utilities. We have a new baby but now have sleepless nights. We build up savings but now feel the weight of responsibility for charity. We get accepted on a sports team but now miss time with our friends. We get a fantastic new job but now must put the kids in daycare. We quit our job so we can stay home with the kids but now we don’t have the finances to take a summer vacation.

Many of us would agree that the burdens that come along with our blessings are worth it because we love the blessings. We wouldn’t trade our newborns for anything in the world, so we deal with sleepless nights. We build up savings but discover how rewarding it is when we give cheerfully to those in need. We acknowledge burdens exist and might even complain or feel discouraged, overwhelmed, or frustrated, but the blessings are greater.

If blessings come with burdens, then I propose that burdens come with blessings. It’s harder to see these blessings because we don’t often realize them until we’ve walked through the burdens. We fail a test but stay after school for tutoring and discover a more effective way to study that helps us for the rest of our schooling. Someone backs up into our car, but because of our grace-filled response someone who doesn’t know Jesus attends church with you that Sunday. We go through a difficult divorce, but discover new strengths about ourselves and some weaknesses that need strengthening, and go on to coach others going through divorce. We lose a child to disease, but then go on to raise awareness and funds to bless other families going through a similar experience. A tornado wipes out a community, but then the helpers pour in and demonstrate the love of Jesus.

If every blessing has a burden, let’s have faith that God also provides blessings in the burdens we face. We might not see the blessings yet, but trust that they will come. God is love. God is faithful. He wants the best for His children. He wants to bless us, but also wants us to grow through the burdens. He wants us to rely on Him through the burdens. He wants to be our solid rock. He wants us to know Him so well that we are confident He works all things for our good, through blessings and burdens.

By: Nancy DeJesus