Too Much!

Recently, I was in a long line of people, all of us waiting our turn. I watched people, some seeming to carry heavy burdens by the way they moved and interacted with others. Snatches of conversations overheard were filled with unkind words. I thought of many things I had recently heard and seen. I felt the weight…

Then, completely unbidden, my eyes began to leak. My heart felt too heavy for breath to come and I thought my knees would buckle. I cried out in my spirit, “O God! The weight of sin is too much. The burden of sin is too much, too much to ask of us to see the sin of others and feel its weight. O

God, help me!”

And it was almost as if Jesus Himself spoke in an audible voice within me, “My daughter. I am come. I already bore the sin of all mankind that you might know freedom and never have to carry that weight. I am the Savior of the world and I am come. I am here.”

Immediately, my spirit cried out in deep gratitude, tears flowing as I soaked in the joy of knowing my Savior, of having Him here, of His being with me. My heart cried out with Mary, mother of Jesus, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…for The Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name!” (Luke 1:46, 47, 49-NASB)

I felt released from the weight as suddenly as I had felt it come. I remembered the words of Zacharias as he prophesied over his newborn son, “To grant to us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” (Luke 1:74-75-NASB)

I reached my turn of being served, then turned to walk away. It was SUCH A RELIEF, realizing all over again that I need a savior, and He is come! He is present. With me. Always. I have not to carry the burden of sin. I have Him to offer instead.

I still am broken by Love Himself. I still feel the heaviness of sorrow over sin. I still cry with those who cry out for help in their brokenness and/or sin. But I don’t carry the weight. Instead, I offer Jesus. Not some platitude, not some shadow of someone yet to come, but the Real One. Jesus is here. Now. Actively present, He is.

It isn’t heavy. It is a privilege, “to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God…” (Luke 1:77-78a-NASB)  I am not John the Baptist, but like him, I have the privilege of offering Jesus to others, serving Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all my days.

Christine