You ask too much of me

Has there been a point in your life where you felt the burden you carried was simply too much? That you were not prepared to handle it? Or maybe you just didn’t want to handle it?

“I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!” - Numbers 11:14–15 NLT

Reflection

Moses had a heavy load. We can agree on that.

If you’ve read this part of the Bible, you meet a man who was reluctant to do what God was asking him to do. If you’ve watched the movie, you see that through Moses some incredible things occurred. He received the calling, and he also witnessed what was possible because God did exactly what He said He would do.

So why, after being humbled, prepared, and seeing God move in powerful ways, does Moses have this moment? How could a man with such a clear calling and responsibility stumble like this?

Maybe because he was human.

You might be feeling a little like him right now. You are a parent, or maybe a spouse, and the weight of caring for others is exhausting. The children are taxing. The spouse has become ill and is not going to get better. It is not how you planned it. It is not how it was supposed to be.

If you reflect back on your life, you will notice that God has been with you from the very beginning. When you accepted the calling of marriage or parenthood, in some way God trusted you. He trusted you to be a companion to one of His children. He trusted you with children of your own, placing them in your care until they could stand on their own.

Still, there are seasons when the earthly weight of it all wears us down.

Even Jesus had a moment like this. It was in the garden. But what He did there matters. Jesus did not complain about the burden. He lifted it. He elevated the situation by placing it fully in the Father’s hands. Moses voiced his anguish. Jesus surrendered His will. To me, that distinction is significant.

As Christians, we believe in the resurrected Jesus. Of course we do. But the example of a man who willingly carried a burden for God, even unto death, is the model I want to move toward. That is what true faith looks like to me.

God does not give us the full story of our lives upfront. We would not be able to handle it. And honestly, who wants to know the ending of a story before it unfolds? A story loses something when it is spoiled.

Here is my point.

We are given these powerful verses by significant people in God’s story. We all have a bit of Moses in us. Reluctant. Tired. Overwhelmed. Often trying to carry what God has given us with our own strength. What we forget is this. God gave us the burden. God lives within us. And when we connect to His Spirit, we are not carrying it alone.

We have a partner in it all.

That partner is leading us home. And the burden He trusted us with is part of how we get there.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please do not let me complain about what You ask me to do. Help me never see it as impossible or too heavy. Nothing is impossible with You. Thank You for trusting me with what You have placed in my life. I know there are moments when it feels like too much, but as Jesus did, I lift my burdens to You. Please strengthen me through Your Spirit so I can follow through with what You ask. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.