Assigned Burden Bearers

This post originally appeared on audreyfrank.com July 21, 2019. The author has not learned much since she first wrote it. Maybe this time around.

And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens… 2 Chronicles 2:2

Some of us are assigned to bear burdens.

There are projects in God’s kingdom that cannot be completed without burden-bearers. #perseverance #honor Share on X

The stones hewn from the mountain would not carry nor assemble themselves into towering walls to form Solomon’s glorious temple. They needed strong arms to bear them to their purpose.

God’s assigned burden-bearer must be careful how she carries her load.

I have a beautiful bowl handcrafted from the wood of an orange tree native to North Africa. Golden brown, it is inlaid with floral patterns of lighter wood. Disrupting the intricate design is a jagged crack, spanning from rim to base.

The crack tells the story of a careless burden-bearer. In the ancient city where we once lived, burden-bearers pulled homemade carts, running over uneven stone streets to transport loads from one place to another. I often needed their help.

One day after a trip to the nearby mountains, we returned with too many items to carry ourselves. Flagging down help, we filled a cart with our wares, placing the bowl last and carefully strapping it in place.

The cart-puller made it to our door before he lost control and spilled the contents to the marble floor. The bowl was first to hit. With a sharp crack, it struck the floor and fractured.

I stood frozen a moment, suspended between disappointment that my beautiful new bowl was cracked and embarrassment that I cared so much. The cart puller looked at me with weary eyes that said I have much heavier burdens to worry about than your broken bowl. Without acknowledgment or apology, he held out his hand for payment. 

He was gone before I could even get mad.

Sometimes I am not so different from the weary burden-bearer who spends his life running and pulling heavy loads, only to arrive at the destination and drop it all on the floor. 

Demanding payment, I am in too much of a hurry to address any damage my careless carrying may have caused. I have other things on my mind.

The burdens I tote around are much more fragile than a wooden bowl. My metaphorical cart is heavy with responsibility and relationships. 

People break more easily than bowls, and I am afraid I have done my fair share of fracturing hearts and feelings in a rush to put my cart away and be done. I groan under the weight, eager to be rid of it.

What if I saw my burden differently? What if I saw my burden as an assignment from the King for the building of His temple?

Those relationships, those responsibilities, might weigh differently against my weary back if I recognized they were an honored assignment.

I might slow down. And with slowing down comes careful carrying. Clear seeing. Gentle serving.

Knowing He assigns my burdens gives me new purpose. I get to participate in the King’s glorious work. My burdens become treasures. My obedience becomes a new place of worship.

I am certain the King provides all His assigned burden-bearers need to carry the loads He gives.

Lord, change my perspective about my burdens. Help me carefully carry what You have assigned. Amen.

@audreycfrank