Leadership is a challenging position to have. One mentor described leadership to me in this way\u2014it means \u201cvoluntarily and willingly carrying more weight than the people that you\u2019re leading for their benefit.\u201d If you\u2019re in a position of leadership then you probably know exactly what I mean.<\/p>\n
Galatians 6:2 says, \u201cBear one another\u2019s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.\u201d<\/em> That is a call to all believers, but no doubt those who are in leadership are going to be bearing many people\u2019s burdens for the purpose of pleasing Christ and loving those people. That can be a significant burden to bear. How can a leader, or anyone who is seeking to love others, handle the significant weight of those burdens and not be crushed by them?<\/p>\n One answer comes from the pattern of Christ\u2019s life. He bore the burden of everyone\u2019s sin on the cross (cf. Is. 53:4, 12). The weight of the world was literally upon His shoulders. He knew that was His purpose in coming to earth. How did Christ handle those burdens?<\/p>\n Luke 5:16 shows us how\u2014 \u201cBut He would withdraw to desolate places and pray.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As I\u2019m writing this post, it\u2019s only a couple days after Governor Holcomb issued the extension for the shelter in place order until May 1st<\/sup>. That means for a large group of the population, we will have spent an inordinate amount of time at home over the past few weeks and that will continue for at least a couple more weeks. Therefore, I\u2019m sure that many of us have been more sedentary than normal. After all, if your longest commute is from the bedroom to the kitchen, how many steps can you really get in?<\/p>\n That also means for many of us that we have been far more isolated and alone than normal. Now, I realize there are exceptions to these situations, but if you find yourself in a place where you\u2019re more isolated and sedentary let me encourage you not to waste this time!<\/p>\n Jesus sought<\/em> out<\/em> times to be alone and still in prayer with His Father. The words \u201cwithdraw\u201d and \u201cpray\u201d in Luke 5:16 are both verbs that indicate continuous action. The point being, this is not something that Jesus did once in His time on earth. The NIV and NASB make this clearer by translating the verse using the word \u201coften\u201d\u2014<\/em>\u201cBut Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness to pray.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The Lord, in His sovereign plan, has granted to many of us a time to bear the burdens of others in the way that Christ Himself exemplified: by often going to the Lord to pray. Other passages of Scripture help us gain a better understanding of how long He would spend in prayer. For example, the night before He chose His 12 disciples Luke 6:12 says, \u201c\u2026all night He continued in prayer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A question that I\u2019ve often asked myself is, to my embarrassment and shame I might add, \u201cIs that the kind of fellowship and communion that I enjoy with my Lord?\u201d The answer is definitely, \u201cno.\u201d But that doesn\u2019t mean that it cannot grow to that kind of sweetness. It doesn\u2019t mean that I cannot cultivate a deep communion with Christ that would be demonstrated by the joy of spending longer and longer times in prayer with the Lord. Who knows, the Lord might have actually brought COVID-19 because He wants us to grow in our communion in the Lord through prayer\u2014actually, I\u2019m certain that\u2019s one of the lessons that God wants us to learn. Romans 8:28\u201329 makes it clear that God is working to make His children more and more into the likeness of Christ. That includes shaping our prayer lives into the likeness of Christ.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever tried to grow in spending more time in prayer with the Lord, then you\u2019ve probably experienced the challenge of filling the time up with enough requests without it just being repetitive. Let me help you with specific burdens during to go to the Lord with.<\/p>\n In addition to us carrying our burdens to the Lord in prayer, I also want to encourage you to pursue the sweetness of just spending time thanking the Lord and praising Him for His goodness. An exercise that I would commend for you to try during the shelter in place, is to read Psalm 119 in 8 verse chunks and to pray through those verses for at least 10 minutes. Praying Scripture is one of the sweetest ways to go to the Lord. And praying Scripture doesn\u2019t just mean repeating the words of Scripture.<\/p>\n For example, Psalm 119:2 says, \u201cBlessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart.\u201d <\/em>To pray this one verse, you might rejoice in the times when you have obeyed the Lord and praise Him for how He does indeed keep His promise to bless those who keep His testimonies. You can also ask Him to help you to grow in seeking Him and this might lead you to confession and repentance as you think of ways that you haven\u2019t sought Him with your whole heart.<\/p>\n Although much of our life has slowed down and we might find ourselves more alone and with more time on our hands, it doesn\u2019t mean that this time is a waste. In fact, you can be sedentary and still be serving and loving others through bearing their burdens and interceding on their behalf for them. This might be one of the times when God wants us to learn how powerful He is and how weak we are. Let\u2019s solicit the help of the One whose arm is never too short on behalf of our brothers and sisters and our neighbors.<\/p>\nBearing One Another\u2019s Burdens While Sedentary and Sheltering<\/h2>\n
What Burdens Should I Carry to the Lord?<\/h2>\n
\n
Prayer is More than Bearing Burdens<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
Reflection Questions:<\/h2>\n