Today’s Devotional: “Turn Your Burden into a Bridge”

Burdens are a part of life. We all have our burdens to bear, no matter whether we’re rich or poor, young or old, the color of our skin, or whether we are saved or lost. Sorrow and trouble come alike to everyone because burdens respect no one. Life places burdens on all of us: sorrow, tragedy, affliction, loss, disappointment, and death are common realities.

Just as the sun rises on both evil and good and the rain falls on both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), so burdens affect us all.

Burdens come in a wide variety, some less intrusive while others literally take our breath away.

Webster’s defines a burden as something that is carried, usually heavy, but the weight is more a figure of speech because of the emotional toll it produces, which can be quite weighty, such as bearing the burden of death, disability, sickness, disease, debt, and guilt, to name a few.

How can we bear life’s burdens successfully?

To help us in the process, let me share one of God’s great promises that gives us both rest and joy amid the burdens we bear.

“For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.” (Jeremiah 31:25)

The Bible tells us to consider the ways and wisdom of the ant (Proverbs 6:6).

One day, while studying ants, a biologist observed an ant carrying a piece of straw much larger than itself. When the ant reached a crack too wide to cross with the straw, it laid the straw across the crack and walked across it. The ant then picked the straw back up and continued on its way.

The ant turned its burden into a bridge, exactly what the Lord wants us to do. He wants us to take the burdens we bear and turn them into bridges for greater spiritual maturity.