Bearing Burdens 

BEARING BURDENS

Gal. 6:1-5

INTRO.- ILL.- An airline company was disturbed over a high percentage of accidents so they decided to eliminate human errors by building a completely computerized plane. "Ladies and gentlemen," came a voice over the PA during the initial flight, "It may interest you to know that you are traveling in the world’s first completely automated and computerized plane. Now just back and relax because nothing can go wrong....go wrong....go wrong....go wrong....."

Wanna bet? THINGS DO GO WRONG IN LIFE! And you don’t have to live very long in this world to find this out. And for some people, things seem to go wrong more often than not.

LIFE SUCKS! At least that’s what many people think about life. They’ve had so much junk happen to them that life sucks to them! Meaning, I guess, that life stinks! And I admit that sometimes life does stink! BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE! Bad things happen to Christian people.

Rom. 8:18 "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

Paul talked about the sufferings of this present time. Many times we have to suffer in life. We may have to suffer physically, emotionally or mentally.

ILL.- A college boy said to his mother one day, "I decided that I want to be a political science major and that I want to clean up the mess in the world." "That’s very nice," said his mother, "YOU CAN GO UPSTAIRS AND START WITH YOUR ROOM."

For some people, a part of their suffering deals with their children.

ILL.- A man once told me that his two boys (ages 16 & 14) wouldn’t keep their rooms cleaned up. THAT’S NOT SURPRISING, IS IT? It bothered that father to the point that he told them, "If you can’t keep your room clean then at least keep your door shut."

I think we all know that there is something far worse than a young person not keeping their room clean. AND THAT’S NOT KEEPING THEIR LIFE CLEAN! And that is a real problem for some parents; a real burden to them! Prodigal or problem children a real burden to their parents!

Of course, I also realize that life can be a real burden or a royal pain to our young people.

ILL.- A schoolteacher sent this note home to all parents on the first day of school: "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I’ll promise not to believe everything he says happens at home."

Sometimes young people catch it both at home and at school. Kids are people too! THEY GET BURDENED TOO!

ILL.- A little over two years ago my son’s best friend, Thomas Fuller, was killed in a car accident. He was only 16 years old and Shane was one of the pall bearers. And all Shane talked about for over a year was his best friend, Thomas. HIS DEATH HURT SHANE DEEPLY! His death pained him to the depths of his soul! And naturally, I felt badly for him.

I realize that what happened to Shane is probably rare for most young people. MOST OF THE TIME THEIR SUFFERING COMES FROM OTHER THINGS OR OTHER SOURCES. And, of course, because I’m a parent I tend to think the suffering of most young people comes from their own making.

AND ISN’T THAT TRUE FOR MOST OF US? Our suffering often comes because we make bad choices in life.

ILL.- For example, a friend of mine 30 years ago got drunk in a bar and some guy punched him out. He came to work the next day all beaten and bruised. HIS SUFFERING WAS THE RESULT OF HIS OWN MAKING.

People have said, "When you play with fire, you’re going to get burnt."

ILL.- Old preacher Billy Sunday used to say, "I know the devil is real for two reasons:

1- Because the Bible says so

2- Because I’ve done business with him."

Any time you do business with the devil you’re going to get burnt, you’re going to suffer! Of course, you don’t even have to do business with the devil for him to cause you to suffer.

ILL.- REMEMBER THE STORY OF JOB? Satan appeared before God and asked Him if he could put Job to the test and God allowed him to do that. And God allows Satan to put us to the test too! Satan likes to cause us trouble in life just because of who we are! Because we are Christians! He likes to trip us up anyway he can.

We also sometimes suffer in life because of others. We’ve all heard stories about those stories about some drunk driving down the street and hits some person and kills them. THAT’S SUFFERING BECAUSE OF SOMEONE ELSES’ SIN!