Bear Ye One Another's Burdens
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." — Galatians 6:2
Sent Out Two by Two
There is a reason Jesus never sent anyone out alone.
"And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two." (Mark 6:7)
"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face." (Luke 10:1)
He could have doubled His coverage by sending them singly. He did not, and He was not making an efficiency mistake.
When God calls one person into a hard place, He very often assigns another to stand with them — not as an assistant, but as a partner commanded to guard and defend the other with their own life if necessary.
That is where you learn what Galatians 6:2 actually means: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
Helping Someone Through Their Own Harvest
Here is the part that costs.
Sometimes the burden you are asked to carry is not innocent suffering. It is the reaping period of someone else's life — the consequences of choices they made before you knew them.
That is much harder to carry, because part of you keeps thinking this is not my fault, and it is not fair.
Both of those things are true. Neither of them releases you.
God loves the person who spent years spitting in His face. That is precisely why He assigns someone to help them survive the harvest. And as the sufferer accepts God's will, and as the helper willingly carries the weight, both grow in faith and love and in their relationship with God.
Nothing could be better than that — which is how all things work together for good in situations that look nothing like good.
The Diagnosis That Should Trouble Us
Why are there so few genuine miraculous healings in our churches today?
Here is one uncomfortable answer: because of the selfish refusal of God's people to bear one another's burdens.
God addressed this directly through Isaiah, and the connection He draws is startling:
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover them; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily." (Isaiah 58:6–8)
Read the order. Carry other people's burdens — then your health springs forth speedily.
We want the second half without the first.
Point to Ponder
We want our health to spring forth speedily. God attached that promise to carrying someone else's burden first.
Verse to Remember
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." — Galatians 6:2
Question to Consider
Whose burden am I actually carrying — not praying about, carrying?
Today's Practice
Read Isaiah 58 in full today. Watch how God contrasts religious fasting He does not want with the fast He does.
Then answer three questions in writing:
Who is carrying my burdens? If nobody, that is a problem worth solving. God does not intend anyone to fight alone. Ask Him for a partner and be willing to be honest enough with someone that they can actually help.
Whose burdens am I carrying? Not who do I pray for occasionally — whose weight am I actually under? If the answer is nobody, that is the more urgent problem.
Who has God been showing me and I have looked away from? There is usually someone.
Then take one concrete step toward that last person this week. A call. A visit. A meal. An offer of something you will actually deliver.
Prayer
Father, I have wanted a faith that costs me nothing and delivers everything, and You have never offered one.
You sent Your people out two by two. You commanded us to carry each other. And I have prayed for people from a comfortable distance and called that ministry.
Show me whose burden You have assigned to me. And when You show me, do not let me look away because it is inconvenient, or because their trouble is their own fault, or because it will cost me sleep.
Give me someone to carry my burdens too. I have been too proud to need anyone and it has not made me strong — only tired.
Undo the heavy burdens. Break every yoke. And let my light break forth as the morning, in Your way and in Your time.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
He could have doubled His coverage by sending them alone. He sent them two by two instead.