Learning To Lean

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everal summers ago I was working as a chaplain at Philmont Scout Ranch.  One of my duties as a chaplain was to go into the back country and conduct services for crews hiking the many miles of trail at Philmont.  We held regularly scheduled services for a few large camps serving as thoroughfares for a majority of the crews visiting Philmont.  We also did services by request, however, and for those services, we would pick an appropriate rendezvous point where we could meet a particular group.

It was my privilege to conduct several of these requested services during my two years at Philmont.  The young people and the adults looked forward to worshiping God in his creation.  There is perhaps no better setting in which to worship God than at the foot of a mountain, in the soft breezes of a shaded meadow, or by the cool waters of a gurgling stream.  In such a setting, you rapidly forget about the insignificant things of life and focus instead on God's glory and majesty.

On one such occasion, I had been asked to conduct services about an hour's drive from base camp.  I climbed into my suburban and drove to the camp where I found the crew eagerly awaiting the opportunity to have a service.  As I prepared my notes, I couldn't help noticing an older gentleman standing a few hundred yards away.  He was leaning on his hiking staff, looking out over a large valley.  Despite the noise of the crew members arriving for service, despite the commotion of preparing the place for worship, and despite the attempts of others to engage him in conversation, this man continued to lean upon his staff, looking intently at the beautiful scenery before him.

He did not attend our service, but remained fixed in that spot during it.  Intrigued, I approached him when the service was finished.  Whatever there was in that valley, I had to see it for myself.  This man had remained glued to the same spot for over an hour, simply leaning on his staff.  As I approached, he asked me a simple question, "Have you ever seen anything so lovely, chaplain?"  "I have been here several times," he continued, "and I never tire of this view.  I love to stand here, resting on my staff, drinking in the beauty of God's handiwork."

This man, clearly in his mid to late sixties, was talking from his heart with deep conviction.  I asked him why he didn't have a seat on one of several logs or stumps in the area. He kindly replied that he felt much better and much closer to God if he leaned on his staff.  It reminded him, he said, of God's all sustaining grace which supported him through life, even when he felt too tired to go on.

What a lesson that man taught me that day.  His words are so true and convey a lesson we all need to learn better.  This man's contentment was based solely on the ability of his staff to support him.  As long as he leaned on it, trusted it, and grasped it, the staff would hold him up, allowing him to drink in the view before him.  What a picture of the relationship we should all have with God.  1 Peter 5:7 encourages us to lean heavily upon God and to rely on his strength to support us.  The verse says, "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."  

Notice the two actions contained within this verse.  First, we are to cast, that is to toss, heave, unload, dump, etc. every care we have on God.  The word all means just that, all.  God stands ready to receive all our care, all our worry, all our difficulties, all our grief, all our fears!  He longs to remove from our shoulders everything weighing us down, preventing us from enjoying his presence

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Second, we can cast our cares on him because he cares for us.  We will never be able to fathom the depth of God's love for us nor the extent to which he cares for us.  We simply have to trust him, to love him, to lean upon him.  Leaning on God, realizing we are weak, admitting we need help, is the greatest place to be for the Christian.  It is here that we experience and understand the full extent of God's strength in our lives.  His love and grace strengthen us when we can't go on and they rejuvenate us when our strength is gone.

Today, won't you stop and enjoy the scenery God has provided for you?  Won't you stop, rest, and unload the burdens you are carrying?  God is calling to you, asking you to give him your cares, your burdens, your worries, and your fears.  Lean upon him, trust him, and let him care for you because there is none other who can care for us like he can.  Won't you let him care for you today?

Redistribute The Weight!

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y all indications, it was going to be a particularly hot day at Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico.  The weather forecaster had promised the high would be in the upper 90’s and it looked as if he would keep his word.  I had awakened around six o’clock, and had already showered, made my bed, and gotten dressed for the day.  I joined the other early risers and made my way to Philmont’s dining hall, prepared to eat a good breakfast before starting the day.

After breakfast, I made my routine morning visit to the logistics department to see how many crews would be arriving.  Already in the welcome center, groups were meeting their guides, getting their maps and agendas prepared, and weighing their packs.  The pack’s weight was a very important factor because an individual would carry this pack at least 50 to 75 miles in the coming ten days.  It was the job of the crew chief to ensure that all the necessary items were evenly distributed among the crew and that no none person carried an undue share of the burden. 

Later that afternoon, I was called out to one of the camps for a routine supply run. I enjoyed getting out of base camp and admiring the beautiful scenery of the New Mexico landscape.  After delivering my supplies and the all-important mail, I headed back toward base camp, hoping to arrive in time for lunch.  As I rounded the bend, I met a rather large crew stopped along the side of the road.  I took to opportunity to stop for a few minutes to see how their trek was going.  All the crew members had opened their packs and were busily unpacking and repacking their gear.  This struck me as curious but not odd since this type of thing happened all the time.

After a few moments of friendly chit chat, the crew chief informed me that one of his crew members was having a particularly hard day on the trail.  His fellow crew members wanted to help him out so they had decided to lighten his load by redistributing the weight among themselves.  This meant that this particular crew member could continue with a lighter load and that his teammates would carry his portion for the day.  The next day, someone else might be in the same situation and again the weight would be redistributed with the entire crew sharing the burden.

I watched this crew with great admiration and respect.  Instead of counting one of their number out, they chose to pitch in and help him, to make it possible for him to continue walking the path.  As I drove away from them, I couldn’t get the picture of that crew out of my mind.  It made me think of another picture, one painted by Jesus himself as he addressed all those who travel the Christian road, who get bogged down and become weary under the heavy burden of life.

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus extends an invitation to redistribute the weight we carry on our backs.  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  There is so much truth and so much love in this short command form our Lord.  First, notice that Jesus bids us come to him with our burdens.  He knows that we grow weary. He understands that the road is long and that we are weak.  Jesus is fully aware of all the difficult road blocks that life puts across our path and he is aware that our backs grow tired and weak under the heavy burdens we carry.  What Jesus says to us is this: “Let’s stop beside the road for just a minute.  Let’s open up the packs and redistribute the weight.  I will carry the heavy stuff so that you can rest and together we will continue on the way.”

This is true love.  Jesus wants us to complete the journey we started and he wants to complete it with us.  He offers us rest, not the sit-down-and-do-nothing kind of rest but rest for the soul.  It is the type of rest that is constant no matter what we are facing in life.  Jesus asks us to roll the heavy stuff on to him and to let him carry our burdens for us.  In exchange, he gives us his burden which is light and he promises that our souls will find rest in him.

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re you carrying a heavy pack today?  Is it full of care, worry, frustration, and confusion?  Are you weighted down with all the cares of this life, wondering how you will ever continue with the burden on your back?  Listen very carefully and you will hear the voice of Jesus.  He is whispering very softly, asking you to give him all your cares.  Don’t you want to let him handle the heavy stuff?  Don’t you think it’s time you redistributed the weight?

A Moving Sidewalk

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t never ceases to amaze me how God continually reveals himself in the most unlikely places, using the most unlikely events in everyday life, teaching us great lessons about himself.  The trouble is we rarely take time to notice all the wonderful opportunities we have to learn more about our Heavenly Father because we are too busy and too occupied.  This was made abundantly clear to me during recent trip I took and the classroom where God taught me this lesson was in the airport.

What you may be wondering, could God possibly teach you in an airport?  Well, you would be surprised just how much you can learn there.  I was returning to Texas after my Christmas visit to see my family.  I got to the airport, checked my bags, got my boarding pass, and I was making my way to the gate.  Instead of walking down the long hallway to the terminal, I opted to jump on one of those moving sidewalks that will carry you to your destination. 

I stepped on the moving platform and enjoyed the ride.  Just a few feet in front of me was a woman with a large carry-on and an infant.  The little baby was not very happy about taking a trip and it was all the woman could do to control the child.  Had it not been for the moving platform, she would have been unable to proceed to the gate with both her child and her bag.  One of them would have been left behind and, from the look on her face; I’m not sure which one she would have chosen.

But the moving platform allowed her to carry both her bag and her child without overdue concern.  By the time we reached the end of the long hallway, the baby had fallen asleep and the woman easily picked up her baggage and walked to the gate.

This is a beautiful illustration of 1 Peter 5:7.  In this short passage of scripture, Peter reminds us that Christ carries our burdens for us and lightens our load.  This verse reads, “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”  Notice here that Jesus invites us to cast all of our cares on him.  That means everything, all our burdens, all our trials, all our sadness, all our joy, all our concerns, all of our everything because he loves us.

Far too often we insist on trudging through life, weighted down with all our baggage when all the while we could be riding on a moving sidewalk.  Jesus invites us to do just that.  He wants us to give our burdens to him, to depend on him, and to trust him to get us through the long journey of life so we can arrive safely at our destination. 

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o, if you are struggling today underneath the heavy burden of life’s cares, roll all your burdens over to Jesus.  He is more than able and willing to take your burden and to walk with you along life’s road.  How about a ride on a moving sidewalk today?