I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! Numbers 11:14 (NLT)
You’ve probably heard the saying, “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.” Many people believe this is from the Bible. But that is incorrect. Sometimes God does permit us to encounter trials and struggles that are beyond our own feeble human strength.
Moses reached a point where he couldn’t deal with all the whining and bellyaching. The Israelites were ungrateful, rebellious, and defiant. In his frustration, he asked the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
I love Moses’ honesty. He doesn’t hem or haw or skirt the issue. Rather, he lays it all out before the Lord. All of his frustration, his angst, his disappointment, his loneliness as a leader. And God honors his candor. He instructs Moses to gather seventy men of the elders of Israel and bring them to the tent of meeting where He will take some of the Spirit that is on Moses and put it on them so they can bear the burden of the people with him.
You and I were not created to go it alone. That is why building strong relationships and surrounding ourselves with godly people who have our back is so important. There will be times when we feel like our load is too heavy to bear. That’s precisely when we need strong Christian friends to come alongside us so we don’t have to walk the rough path alone. Friends who are filled with the Holy Spirit, who will intercede for us before the throne of God, regularly check in on us and offer to help.
Let me ask you a question: who do you hang out with? Do they build you up and offer encouragement/ Will they step up if you need help? Can you count on them to pray for you when you are going through a rough patch? “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow . . . a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
Prayer: Lord, we are mindful that, at times, we are prone to feel overwhelmed. We thank you that we can come to you in prayer and cast all of our cares upon you because you care (Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7). We know you are always willing to shoulder some of our load if we would just ask. Thank you for friends who are willing to come alongside us when the going gets tough and strengthen us to be that kind of friend to others. In your name we pray, Amen.