Burdens We Carry

It is the privilege of many children to live worry-free.

For us, their parents, the world can seem to be falling apart: disease, economies crumbling, nations in conflict, riots, injustices, discord…

As we grow increasingly concerned over their future and the world they are growing up in, they run care-free.

We act as their buffer. We carry stress on their behalf.

We carry burdens they are oblivious of, so they can delight in a life of wonder.

But pause and consider: this is our Father’s exact offer to us – to carry our burdens so we can delight in the life He is constantly offering us!

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
– Matthew 11:28

As we carry the the burdens of our children, here is our Father – always offering to take the burdens we carry, along with theirs. There are no conditions. Only that we bring our burdens to Him.

King David, a father of all Israel during particularly violent times, understood this dynamic. He captures the dynamic with this song:

LORD, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I do not get involved with things too great or too difficult for me.
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself […]
I am like a little child.
– Psalm 131:1-2

At every step our parenting is intended to be rooted in, and reliant on, God's divine Fatherhood of us; because we are His precious children – dearly loved.