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Beasts of Burden

12/21/2014

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A donkey, a young woman, a helpless baby; all in one way or another beasts of burden.  
The definition of that phrase 'beasts of burden' is something used to carry a heavy load or perform some other heavy work.  Certainly a donkey would be considered a beast of burden in ancient times.  Used to carry loads of goods, to pull carts, for plowing, for grinding grain and often for carrying people.  They lived a life of labor, filled with drudgery.  There was one donkey though that I am sure somehow knew he was carrying a special burden.  He was the donkey who carried a young woman carrying a very special baby.
This young woman named Mary was herself in a way a beast of burden.  She carried a heavy load.  She was carrying the Son of God in her womb.  I can never hear the song 'Mary Did You Know' without crying when it comes to the line, "When you kiss the little baby you kiss the face of God".  Can you even imagine that?  I can't.  To realize that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob chose YOU to bring His Son to live here on this earth.  I am sure with the joy of that realization came fear also.   The unknown was coming and who knew what this would all really mean for her and for her baby.  I imagine that burden never really went away.  As Jesus grew older; the time he disappeared and they had to go back to the city to find Him in the synagogue.  Every mother has known that sharp prick of fear when they cannot find their child.  Whether it is in the crowded grocery store, on an afternoon when it is getting late and they are not home yet, or when they have their driver's license and are out at night.  A mother knows fear intimately at some time or another.  Mary, I am sure knew that fear.  As Jesus entered into the time of His ministry.  She had to have heard the rumors.  What was really going on?  Was He the King coming to rule their people?  The religious leaders of the day certainly had no fondness for Him.  So there must have been a bit of fear niggling away in the back of her mind.
Both of my sons have been in the hospital with life threatening problems.  Andy had asthma when he was younger.  After helping his dad with some work under our house he became very sick.  It's possible there was mold under there or something, but regardless he became so ill he could literally not get a breath in.  He was in the hospital right at this time of year.  Six days of hell.  At one point in the middle of the night his heart rate was up to 240 per minute.  I did not know if he would pull through.  There were many hours of tears and prayers.  
My oldest son Aaron was in a dirt bike accident.  They rushed him down to a hospital in Phoenix; we did not know the extent of his injuries.  They told us his stomach was filled with blood; his spleen had ruptured and surgery was needed immediately.  It was touch and go for a time; again, many hours of tears and prayers.  I know how it feels to think that my child might die.  But I thank the Lord I was spared having to go through that loss.
Mary was not spared.  I am sure as Jesus' arrest came and then His trial, she was beseeching the God who had given her this Son to please spare Him.  The day of His crucifixion comes.  Wait, He's the Son of God; can't He stop this?  But no.  Mary is on that hill called Golgotha.  There, there is her beloved Son.  He is whipped and beaten and wearing a crown of thorns.  Do you hear that sound?  The nails being driven into His hands and feet?  The cries of anguish from Mary and those who had so loved Jesus?
But Jesus would not be spared that death.  Because, so inexplicably, He also was a beast of burden.  But He was born solely for the heaviest encumbrance.  He was born to carry the sins of the world.  
Have you ever carried something so heavy that your shoulders started to ache?  Your arms grew weak and your legs started to tremble?  A weight so heavy you feared you would not be able to go a step further?  So maybe you laid it down for a moment.  Took a breather to get your strength back up.  With many stops and starts you finally get that load to it's destination.
Jesus carried a weight so much heavier than that.  Can you imagine, really how it felt for One who had never sinned to carry that dirt, that darkness, that ugliness?  His shoulders must have ached.   His arms had no strength left, His legs trembled and shook.  But He could not stop even for a moment to lay that burden down.  To do so would mean the enemy had won.  So He carried that burden alone.  And it only got heavier.
Matthew 27:46 tells of Jesus crying out, "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?".  In order for our sins to be forgiven, Jesus had to carry them all.  And although God loved His Son, He had to turn His face from all of that sin that He carried.  God loved us enough that He let His Son die for us.  He watched Jesus being beaten and then slain, and did nothing to stop it.  Because His love for us was so great He wanted us to have a way to eternal fellowship with Him.  
I guess you could add me and you and everyone else who has accepted that free gift of salvation to that list of beasts of burden.  It is a burden that I take on of my own choice.  My heart is so grateful for His love for me that I choose to lay aside my own desires and live for the One who gave me freedom.  Because in doing so I know that my life will be more than I ever hoped.  His perfect will for my life is far grander than anything I could dream up, as long as I will but trust Him.  He will lead me, He will guide me in my journey.  Every beast of burden has a Master, always leading them home.




*Just a footnote...
I have known for years that God had given me the gift to be able to teach; even more to write.  But I always put it off.  I couldn't imagine how what I wrote could 'get out there' for others to read.  At that time it would have meant getting a book published and that seemed so far beyond what I could do.  But in this age of the internet I have found a way to be obedient to His call.  This post is extra special to me as this is really the first thing I knew that I was supposed to write all those years ago.  This title has been rattling around in my head and my spirit all these years and to finally see it written gives me great joy.  Thank you for sharing my journey with me!
Have a most blessed Christmas, filled with His love and joy!
1 Comment

Superstar!

12/14/2014

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I had the strangest dream the other night.  And that is saying something, as I always have vivid, memorable dreams.  Anyway, in this dream I am sitting in this church.  I can see the front of the church in the distance.  I seem to be sitting with most of the other people in an area that seems dark and dirty and barred with iron, like an old dungeon prison.  I look up and see this woman walking down stairs at the front.  Everything seems fine until her wig starts to slip and someone giggles.  The woman is furious and storms off.  It seems after much convincing she comes back, and has an even more glorious head of hair than before.  She is recognized, amidst much pomp and circumstance as some kind of leader.  She is given gift after gift; almost like a game show, "and now a NEW CAR!"
I remember feeling in that dream like I was a nobody.  Just someone there to recognize how great and wonderful these other people were.  Just a chicken pecking up whatever kernals those higher up deigned to throw down to us.
That was my dream.  Here is something that really happened to my husband Jim and myself.  We were part of a church and a larger organization, considered 'leaders'.  Looking back, big fish in a tiny pond.
For some reason unknown to us at the time, but in hindsight, about to be taught a lesson by God, we were invited to the regional leader's home in the swankier part of Scottsdale.  As we drove with our kids in our broken down car past that huge gate and entered through the ten foot door into a home that looked like it was out of a magazine, we felt like fish out of water.  As our kids swam in their pool we went into his rather imposing office for a chat about leadership.  After a bit his exact words to us were, "You cannot fly with the eagles if you run with the chickens".  Jim and I just looked at each other in disbelief.  We were being called out for our friendships with people in the church that others in leadership considered undesirable.  Jim looked that man in the eye and told him that Jesus said that those who wish to be first must be last.  That those who would be great must be servants to all; in other words, lower than the chickens.
That was a revelatory day for us.  We had been taught to think that we were something special because we had a position of leadership, when the very opposite was the truth.  We were to walk in humility and serve others.  There are no rock stars in the kingdom of God.  Acts 10:34 says that God is not partial to any man.  We are all equal in His eyes.  We are all part of the body of Christ.  1 Corinthians 12:12 says, "Just as the body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ."  Every part of our body has a purpose, regardless of how significant we think each part may be.  Our lungs help us breathe. Our skin protects our internal organs.  Our brains regulate, control and make work all our bodies functions.  Even the hairs on our body are important.  Of course the hair on our heads seems so special, especially to us ladies after a trip to our hairdresser; but our eyelashes are there to keep dust and debris from entering our eyes, and even less glorious, the hairs in our nose are there to be the first line of defense against germs and fungus and spores.  Hmm, that seems way more important than just looking pretty piled atop our heads!
The point being, each and every member or part of our body is important and there for a reason.  As well as each and every part of the body of Christ is important and significant in it's own way.  We are each an integral part of God's plan here on earth.  We all have a role to play that only we can.  We are here to fulfill His purpose, in whatever way that may be.  To love Him first, and then each other; serving each other with humility and a joyful heart.  
There are no rock stars in the body of Christ.  There are just a whole lot of people, created by God for His good purpose. Some may 'seem' to have a higher standing, or calling, but in reality we are all just servants of the most High God.  Equally loved and equally lovely in His eyes. So I guess in His eyes we are ALL superstars!
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    Gail Holleman

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