Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Family”
Our Bible verse for today: “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Families help each other to be strong.”
Back in the early 1990s Linda and I knew an older couple by the name of Jim and Carol Aikens. Jim was a longtime Southern Baptist Pastor but in those years he was serving with the California Southern Baptist State Convention. He and Carol traveled the state, visiting churches, holding meetings, and encouraging church leaders. The thing was, Carol was handicapped and at that stage in life was confined to a wheelchair. They went everywhere in a wheelchair van conversion.
Linda and I once asked Carol considering her special needs and the associated limitations, how it was that she and Jim were able to go so many places and do so many things. She replied, “Honey, Jim and I decided years ago that we were going to be resilient people. We decided we would just do what we had to do, and we would deal with the circumstances as they were. We resolved that we would help each other to be resilient and then we would just get on with life”. Those words stuck with us and Linda and I adopted them as our own resolution in life.
Now fast forward to the summer of 2007. In March of that year Linda had had a major stroke and two brain surgeries. As a result she was pretty seriously disabled and our entire lives had been turned upside down. I realized I was going to have to leave my globe-trotting work as the Vice-President of a Christian humanitarian relief agency, and we had no idea what the future held for us. So while I was trying to help Linda adjust to all the new limitations in her life, I was also struggling with doubts and worries and a good deal of anxiety of my own.
One day, as I was in the middle of an extended pity party, Linda reached out, took my hand and said, “Jim, we are resilient people. We can handle this. We will just do what we need to do and deal with the circumstances as they are. We will get through this. We are resilient people.”
So there I was thinking that I had to figure out how to help Linda carry her burdens and deal with her limitations, and actually she was helping me to deal with mine. That’s what Jim and Carol did for each other too, and that’s what we all need to be doing for one another.
That’s also what Paul was writing about in Galatians 6:2. As the people of God we are to be resilient. We are to take life as it comes, deal with it, and just do what we need to do. But in order to do that we need each other. Each of us should always be looking for ways to help carry one another’s burdens. This is an important function of church life and it’s a primary responsibility we have to one another.
I encourage you to resolve to be resilient. But to do that, you will have to have people in your life who can and will help you. Life can sometimes be hard, and the burdens we have to bear can be heavy. We need each other.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 