Our
reading comes from Galatians 6:2
'Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you
will fulfill the law of Christ. '
Galatians 6:2
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GAL.6.2
Many
a times when we ready such scripture, we get tired even before we finish
reading it. This is because no one wants to sacrifice and let go what
they have as it is meant to be theirs and theirs alone. In this world
where we are facing crisis of inflation, no one wants to share because life has
become very expensive and things are not bearable in relation to money; where
you find majority are struggling to make ends meet and weighed down by debts
and other financial crisis.
Even in that state of
affairs we are called to carry each others burden. Not only are we
supposed to carry each other burdens by giving money, but in other ways of
doing good and being kind and merciful to others. In the book of Luke 10:27 we read this:
'He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength
and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” '
Luke 10:27
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/LUK.10.27
How
many people are able to love their neigbours as they love themselves. Just look around and see how people are so
selfish and mean. That is not what God
is calling us to do. He wants we stand with
each other and help one another in whatever way we can help.
Naturally
i do not struggle being selfless. This is because it is out of it that
the Lord has really blessed me. Being selfless is not easy it takes a heart of
humility, kindness and mercy. It is purely a calling from God that everyone
should ask for. When i say that, I do not mean i am hundred percent. Sometimes i struggle carrying others burdens
because majority of people around me need money which i also struggle with
sometimes. But that is not the only way
i can help. I can give a word of comfort
by giving hope or council on what i see can help them out even leading them to
help through sharing contacts of help.
One
day i was walking to town to meet a friend who had asked to training me so that
i can start making money online; as i was really struggling financially.
I remember the money i had between me and poverty was the training money. I was
supposed to meet the guy around 10.00 a.m. I took my lap top and i hit the road
towards our meeting point. As a good student, i was there thirty minutes
earlier. I tried to call him but he was not picking the calls. I decided
to give him more time but he kept on not picking my calls. I would have
gotten very mad because he never responded to my calls until one hour later after
our appointment time that i decided to give up. In that scenario i had to
change plans quickly so that i don't look silly and wasted. The Lord
reminded me of a friend of mine, who had shared with me that he needed some money
to pay for a certain debt that weighed him down. Since the money i had was to pay for the
training i decided to give this friend of mine the money and train later. Believe me or not till today, i do not know
what happened to the lad who was to train me; as he has never called me to
explain what happened. As for me i did
not bother to look for him because he failed me terribly though i chose to
forgive him but decided not to do business with him as i didn’t want to be
treated the same way again and thus i closed that chapter for a future
training. He is not the only one who has failed me in such arrangements but that
is a story of another day.
One
may think i am not normal when i diverted the money to help my friend because i
had the option of saving it for a future training. But i felt instead of saving the money, i should
stand with this friend of mine by sharing the burden with him. His burden had
kept on disturbing me; and this particular day when i missed my training class
i told God i would want to help this brother. I called to ask him if he
could meet me in town not mentioning to him what i really wanted. He took like
an hour to meet me, but before we met, i sat somewhere public in town to wait
for him and i saw this young woman sat on some benches outside Hilton Hotel in
Nairobi where i also took to rest as i waited. This lady looked tired and
very hungry. Her lips were dry and looked very dehydrated. I went
and sat next to her and i said greeted her fearing she may not even answer me
from her look of face. She did not look
fierce, but looked disturbed and confused. Her answer was very reluctant
may be because of what she was going through. But i really understood her from
the face value; because at one point i was in her shoes. I took Two
hundred shillings note that i had and folded it in my hand and gave it to her. I did it in wisdom as i gave it while greeting
her so that she doesn’t refuse to pick it. She looked at me in awe and i am sure she was
shocked who was i and why i gave her the little alms i had. The feeling was so
nice; i felt like crying that i touched someone’s heart. I may not have
known what she was going through but i am sure i put a smile on her face and made
her know there is a God in heaven just because a stranger offered to give her
something small. Maybe she called me an Angel - i don’t know. What i remember after the act, I went praying
for her; asking God to bless her and open doors for her so that she can come
out of her situation.
Not
long my friend appeared and we relocated to another venue at a hotel that he
had never been before and i bought him some lunch. We did a catch up
since we had not seen each other for quite sometime and the meeting was
awesome. I was able to hand over the money and i could see how happy he was as
he was not expecting i would really be there for him in relation to the debt
that really weighed him down. Days
later, the Lord rewarded me with an offer that earned me more than twenty thousand
shillings. That amazed me as God gave me four times what i had
given. God rewards those who obey his commands and he is always very
faithful.
In
life we are called to carry each others burdens because that is the law of
Jesus. I will give you five points that you will practice in
relation to carrying other peoples’ burdens. One: be patient with
quirks. People with peculiar behaviours will not be the kind of people to
help or stand with. But we are called to
help anyway. Its very hard to be patient with people who seem not to be
understood. Ignore that and offer a hand of help where it is
needed. Two: Help anyone hurting around you. People
need positive energy around them especially those hurting so that they can
receive healing and hope. This can be done through your comforting words
of encouraging, inspiring and even comforting. Whatever way you can
assist please do. Three: Do good to those who hurt
you. I know this is the hardest but try your level best. Currently i am
struggling understanding a colleague who is not easy to please and hurts me on
a daily basis. I do not know how to show her goodness while she is
hurting me this deep, but i have chosen to ignore all what she does to me as a
way of keeping myself at peace; though it is one of my hardest situations to
cope with currently. Four: Be kind to those who offend you.
This is also not easy as those that offend you most of the time are the people
you relate with on a daily basis at home, church, work and even at the market
place. The other day, i was offended by someone very special to me.
He really wanted to extend his disappointment by keeping quiet towards me by
giving me a lot of negative energy. I chose to be good to him; and do you
know what? He was able to tell me what was hurting him and realized it was
nothing to do with me. But because of his personality being depressed was
his way of hurting and wanted my comfort.
If i did not read his mind right, i would have really taken offense. It was not easy to understand him in the first
place as I really wondered what wrong did i do to him. This is a
character of many melancholics and therefore it is good to understand people
that offend us and understand where they are coming from. Five:
Build bridge of love to the overlooked. Be a defender of those who can
not defend themselves. Make sure those that are around you are well
treated and are happy in their endeavours. Be a peace maker and someone who
brings positivity around people so that we can all enjoy life together by
serving each other.
I
hope with those few tips will help you carry other peoples’ burdens because
well all need support and care.
Have
a wonderful time. God bless you.
