I am afraid that many put up a false front and a false face that paints the picture that they never deal with anything and that it would be below them if they ever did. Something that hit me early on with the word of God was the transparency I found in the true accounts of so many of the saint’s lives. The Apostle Paul stands out to me in all that he encountered and endured for the cause of Christ. Paul was a man who worked with his hands and lived on his knees. He was a tent maker, prayer warrior, preacher, missionary and soul winner whose heart burnt like a flame thrower in his love for the Lord. This man, which God used in a mighty way- five times received forty stripes save one, Three times he was beaten with rods, ship wrecked, bitten by a deadly viper, stoned and left for dead and thrown into prison. He spent a night and a day in the deep and was forsaken by his friend Demas and gave testimony of standing alone, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge” (II Timothy 4:16.) Paul does go on to say in verse seventeen that the Lord stood with him and strengthened him. My point is that Paul knew hardship and the discouragement of being forsaken and lonely.
God, indeed, supplies us with strength. The first truth I want to plant in your heart is in the form of an Invitation that should solidify our steps and strengthen our souls, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22.) Listen my friend, you can be strengthened and not shaken. Why carry when you can cast the burden upon the Lord? We don’t act as if there are no burdens we deal with it by bringing it to our Lord. God also supplies us with strength and encouragement through friends. The second truth I want to plant in your heart is in the form of an Example. Paul was an encouragement to young Timothy and Paul had those who blessed him as well, “Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me” (Colossians 4:10-11.) We need one another. The lone ranger mentality will not work. If you choose to go that route, there will be one who will be waiting and lurking in the underbrush. I believe the devil likes nothing better than to see a believer who takes the lone ranger route he sees it as an opportunity to inflict much damage.
Why carry when you can cast your burden upon the Lord?
Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying,
Bro. Tracy
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