Burden Bearing

When I was a child, my parents took me to visit their homeland of Jamaica. There I witnessed a way of life quite foreign to what I had been accustomed, growing up in Canada. Many impoverished people, some young, some old, walking around town carrying what looked to me like very heavy loads: large baskets of food and produce; huge canisters of water; big bundles of clothing. Because of their circumstances, they were stuck, forced to carry heavy burdens in order to get through life.

While we in the West appear carefree, Paul tells us that we are deeply burdened. The sin of Adam and Eve has saddled the universe with a load so heavy that creation itself longs for it to come to an end (vv 19-22). Our bodies are full of evidence of the burden of sin: physical and mental illnesses, social disorders; the aches and pains that come from aging; inner temptations.

Yet Paul describes someone else who groans—the Holy Spirit: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans" (v 26). Our “weakness” keeps us from experiencing more of God’s glory and even prevents us from praying effectively. But we never have to go it alone. God the Holy Spirit is our burden bearer. He doesn’t remove the load; he enables us to carry it. And the Spirit empowers our prayers. We can’t see the intercession that takes place deep within our hearts, but he is there, enabling Christians to pray prayers that align with God’s will, knowing that whatever we ask according to his will we receive from him (compare 1 John 5:14-15).

Whenever we sense our burdens, then, God is reminding us to lean on him to help us carry them on our upward journey towards Christ-likeness; a path we travel through prayer.

Respond in Prayer

Heavenly Father, Thank you so much that you have given me yourself, the Holy Spirit, to empower me in my daily life. Help me by your Spirit to carry these burdens well, and to be led by him as I lean into you and pray my way through life. Amen.

Wayne Baxter