Heavy Lifting
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
The Certa-Werner family has successfully made the move from Superior to Elk Mound Wisconsin! While moving is part of the life of United Methodist pastors, our family has been in Superior for twenty-one years. We were blessed to serve Faith United Methodist Church, Harbor House Crisis Shelters and the community.
Last week was a week of “heavy lifting” – the material things of boxes of books, furniture, files, clothes, and other household items. It was also a week of “heavy lifting” emotionally – the series of lasts, the memories, the “what ifs,” the celebrations of ministry, the goodbyes, and the dreaded drive out of town one last time, and the strangeness of driving into the new town the first time.
This has not been an easy time. The physical “heavy lifting” was exhausting but allowed me to work through the emotional stuff in my activity – there was no time to wallow! As I moved, lifted, shoved, and pushed – I knew that I could not do this alone. My family helped me carry what I could not alone.
Likewise, how often do we think that we must do all the “heavy lifting” in our emotional and spiritual life? As Christians, we are not meant to do our “heavy lifting” alone. Jesus is willing and able to lift what we cannot, give us strength when we are weak, rejoice when we celebrate and comfort us when we mourn.
We each have our own “heavy lifting” to do in life, and whatever it may be, you are not meant to carry it alone. You have a Savior who is willing and able to share in the heaviness of life – making things lighter and more manageable. My prayer is that we accept what is being offered. Amen.