Given the Gift of Burden

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters

How long, LORD, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not intervene! Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife.

(Habakkuk 1:2-3 NET)

 

I bet a lot of you reading this today do not look at burden as being a gift.  Quite the contrary, we view burden as something that is placed upon us and, at best, is an inconvenience.  In a very Hebrew sense, a burden is something that is lifted up and is being carried.  Habakkuk would have asked to have taken it from him.

Habakkuk served as a spokesman for God to a nation of people during a time of deep darkness.  He also may have been an eyewitness to some of what God wanted him to communicate; after all he was living in a violent society.  However, just like in Habakkuk’s time, we as Christians are being subjected to look at the violence every day.

So, what are we to do to take our gaze off all this?  If you said looking to Jesus, you would be correct.  And if we were to ask what should we lift up and carry as our burden, the correct answer would be the yoke of Jesus Christ.  He makes it clear, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

I would say that Habakkuk did not view the burden he was given as a gift, but I believe that the one Jesus wants us to have it.  Jesus taught this idea of being in His yoke to a world that was also filled with an unspeakable Roman Empire kind of violence. We, like Habakkuk, need to get to a place where we say, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:18).  Amen?

 

 

This Freedom Fighter was originally published in Real Victory for Real Life Volume 3

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris is a husband, a father, has an education in Biblical doctrine and is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008. You can e-mail at cphughes515@verizon.net.


Think About This: “Is it more important to understand than to obey? Is it more important to me to know than to believe?” ― Elisabeth Elliott

The Daily Bible Reading: Luke 19 | You can download our 2021 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here. 

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” –Galatians 5:13-14

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