Don’t be afraid of pressure. Remember that pressure is what
turns a lump of coal into a diamond.
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An old legend says that God first created birds without
wings. Sometime later, God made
wings and said to the birds, “Come, take up these burdens and bear them.” The birds hesitated at first, but soon
obeyed. They tried picking up the
wings in their beaks, but found them too heavy. Then they tried picking them up with their claws, but found
them too large. Finally one of the
birds managed to get the wings hoisted onto its shoulders where it was finally
possible to carry them.
To the amazement of the birds, before long the wings began
to grow and they soon had attached themselves to the bodies of the birds. One of the birds began to flap his
wings and others followed by example.
Before long, one of the birds took off and began to soar in the air
above!
What had once been a heavy burden now became the very thing
that enabled the birds to go where they could never go before…and at the same
time, truly fulfill the destiny of their creation.
The duties and responsibilities you count as burdens today
may be part of God’s destiny or your life, the means by which your soul is
lifted up and prepared for eternity.
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Like you, I have several burdens and I have been through
several burdens. Sometimes my
burdens would get the best of me and weigh me down. When I think back to the burdens in my life, if you are like
me, you probably think of a major sin you lived in, in the past. That sin became a burden to you,
especially when you changed your life around or repented of it.
My burden from the past was a wrong relationship. I grew up in a Christian home and from
a young age was taught that the Bible is very black and white about what is
wrong and right. However, once I
got to college my Christian friends started telling me that there were grey
areas in the Bible. And since they
are “grey” we can interpret them in any way we’d like. Around that time is when I met Bryant.
My gut reaction was to run as far away from him as I
could. But another part of me
could not help but be drawn to him.
We started dating after a month of talking. At first I thought he was “the one”. Everything seemed perfect, except for
the fact that he was catholic and did not really live out his faith.
I guess I was blinded by love because I ignored the flags
and advice of my family (who hated him) and plunged all the more deeper into
the relationship. After a couple
months of dating he told me that he never gave his life to Christ. I was worried. I can’t be unequally
yoked, I thought to myself. But thankfully my dad
talked to him on the phone and he ended up giving his life to Christ. Or so I thought. So I checked that off my worry list and
continued dating.
As the relationship got more serious, he became all the more
adamant about being physical.
Since I grew up in a Christian home I was completely against being
physical. However, my good
Christian friends were being physical with their significant others and seemed
completely fine in their walk. So
I compromised. Again and again, and again.
I got so far from God and so deep into being physical with
my boyfriend, but I was completely unaware of it. Finally somehow God opened my eyes after a year of
dating. I broke up with him
because I could no longer deal with the guilt of being with him. We acted together off and on for
another 6 months before really ending it.
I was so broken and hurt afterwards. I felt so alone and that God was so far
away. Everyday I had to pray for
God to heal my broken heart, make me whole, and bring me close to him
again. Slowly he began a work in
me. A year after ending the
relationship was when I really began feeling whole and myself again.
For the longest time I felt burdened with this guilt. I would give small parts of it to God,
but not all of it because it hurt too much. Finally I realized I would never be whole unless I gave him
all of it. Once I did, he filled
that part in my heart and life with so much love. He became the lover of my soul.
I can attest to God using your burdens as blessings later on
in life. Since my acceptance of
the World Race, I have been able to share my testimony. Before now I have never shared the
testimony of how God brought me out of a bad relationship. I have given a message at five
churches. And so many people have
come up to me, telling me that my testimony related to them. It is such a rewarding experience to
know that the freedom God gave me from this burden is still freeing others of
the same burden.
Maybe you have a burden like mine or maybe completely
different. My advice is to let
go. God will take that burden and
give you freedom. He will bring
you from whatever it is and call you into a higher level of intimacy with
him. And don’t forget. Your burden
might free others from their burdens one day. One day he will take that burden and turn it into a diamond.
