The Blessing of a Burden

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  —1 Thessalonians 5:18

I recently read a missionary story of a young Hindu named Sadhu Sundar who became a Christian and was called to be a missionary to India.  Late one afternoon Sadhu was traveling on foot through the Himalayas with a Buddhist monk.  It was bitterly cold and night was approaching. The monk warned they were in danger of freezing to death if they did not reach the monastery before darkness fell.

As they traveled along a narrow path above a steep embankment, they heard a cry for help. Down the embankment lay a man, fallen and badly hurt. The monk told Sadhu, “Do not stop. The universe has brought this man to his fate.  Let us hurry on before we also perish.”

But Sadhu answered, “God has sent me here to minister. I cannot abandon this man.”

The monk continued down the path leaving Sadhu behind to help the fallen man. Sadhu climbed down the embankment. The man’s leg was broken and he could not walk.  Sadhu took his blanket and made a sling. He tied the man on his back and struggled back up to the pathway.

With the heavy burden on his back, he made his way through the deepening snow. It became dark and he could barely see the path. But, He drudged on faint with fatigue.

Finally he saw the lights of the monastery ahead.  Just then he stumbled in the darkness over something in the snow. It was the body of the monk, frozen to death.

Years later Sadhu was asked, “What do you consider to be life’s most difficult task?”  Without hesitation Sadhu answered: “To live with no burden to carry.”

While our lives may become heavy with burdens, we still can be thankful.  Many of those burdens are blessings in disguise! If your are bearing a burden, pause for a moment and thank the Lord for how He will use it to ultimately bless you.