Blessings and Burdens

Last Christmas, I plotted to purchase a china cabinet for my wife. I was scouring the internet for the best and easiest to transport. I looked at a couple, but they just didn't have that spark I was looking for. And then, there it was! It was incredible. What's more, I had been trying to match the wood and stain of my grandfather clock I'd purchased a few years earlier - that was a miracle of it's own - and it looked pretty darn close.

This china cabinet seemed perfect. I visited the owners to make sure it was going to work. As I walked through their front door, here was a grandfather clock that looked almost identical to mine. As I spoke with the owners they revealed that the clock, china cabinet and much more were all part of a set, and unbelievably made by the same company that created my grandfather clock that I was trying to match the new cabinet to! I knew I had the right one.

We talked payment and transport. I quickly realized this was no one-man-job. It was going to take at least three, if not four people to move it. My brother was coming up to visit for the holidays, and I had one friend that wasn't busy who could help. We were going to have to make it work. In Galatians it says: 

"Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ."

-Galatians 6:2

I've always passively thought that this verse only applied to painful and negative situations. I never considered (ahem, until recently) that sometimes good things in our lives, things that God intends for us, can also be too heavy for us to carry on our own.

The three of us arrived the evening before Christmas Eve with my brother's truck, a few straps, and... shoot! I forgot the blankets. We circled the cabinet discussing the best way to lift and carry it outside, up an icy hill, and onto a very tall truck. After trying to simply grunt through lifting with our hands, we realized it wasn't possible; the cabinet was just too heavy. I was becoming really concerned. What was I thinking?! How had I thought I could just "throw this in the back of a truck?" After much debate, we decided to jerry-rig our truck straps as moving straps which placed most of the weight on our shoulders rather than our arms.

About 15 minutes later - close to death - we finally hoisted the cabinet up onto the truck and with a massive sigh of relief started joking about burning it rather than ever moving it again. I can't tell you how excited my wife was when she not only got the china cabinet, but just a couple weeks later on her birthday, also got fine china to fill it with. It was a very special time for our family, filled with talks about passing it down to our children ...having something to pass down. This blessing, this burden, simply would not have been resolved had it not been for the support I received.

Your Ministry Organization Blessings and Burdens

Maybe you know you've heard from God. You feel he's placed a blessing in your life. But recently, it's seemed too much to carry or accomplish on your own. Consider what Galatians says and ask yourself, "Am I doing alone what God might have intended for me to do with others?" As far as I have read in God's Word and learned walking with him, it seems to me that this whole existence is about relationship - with God and others. So, it makes sense that something good that God's given us, should also be something shared with others.

How does this apply to James Bishop Co.? Without getting too salesy, God placed it on my heart to share what He spent the last 15 years training and teaching me. Who better to offer that to, than ministries devoted to the work of God. There's many other phrases in the Bible that are similar to the Galatians scripture I shared earlier, like: 

A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

-Ecclesiastes 4:12

Your ministry is, I'm sure, a massive blessing to those you serve. Sometimes, however, the many tasks, can either become too many or too complex. James Bishop Co. is dedicated to helping you solve communications and technology problems. Whether that be partnering with your marketing team, or, operating as your only communications specialist. I desire to help you move that blessing forward. Let's get that "china cabinet" where it needs to go, so you can enjoy the blessing, the ministry that God has called you to.

Have you ever experienced something that was good, but too heavy for you to carry on your own? Did this article stir up thoughts? Comment below and join the conversation!