God Lifts our Burdens
God Lifts our Burdens
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I wish you could have all been along that afternoon in southern
Mexico. It was a beautiful day and there is nothing better than
a good lunch and then a nature hike after church.
My wife and I were in the middle of a year of volunteer work in
Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. We had driven an old Chevy Nova
down there, so we were able to occasionally get away. We had
found some other young 'gringos' up in the mountains of Chiapas
and spent most of our available weekends with them.
This time, we went with them to a church that they had helped to
build. It was in a very pretty mountain valley. It seated about
300 people and was a great new addition to the local ministry.
While they had been there with the building project, they had
found this place to hike and wanted to show it to us.
We parked at the end of a road and started off over a flat area.
Being the nosy naturalist that I am, I soon found a flat rock to
turn over. Under it was a mother scorpion with a back full of
tiny babies. She looked like a little wind-up toy. She scuttled
around looking for cover.
Soon we came to the edge of a deep ravine. At one end of the
ravine was a waterfall. There was about a quarter mile where the
river ran fairly level and then went over another waterfall. It
was a perfect place to explore.
On the steep climb down the ravine, it was amazing to see that
this side of the steep bank was actually a farm. It was so steep
that if you stood straight up, you could almost touch the ground
just by stretching out your hand. But, the hard working farmers
had cleared it and had planted corn there.
When we got to the river, it was plain to see that the good
exploring was on the other side of the river. There was a place
where there was a rock about six feet tall. At the base of the
rock, the river was pressed into a narrow channel. At that point
we were able to jump across.
On the other side, there was a large flat bedrock area. On the
edge of it the other side of the ravine was a steep cliff. It
was covered with trees, moss and ferns. In the trees and rocks
were orchids and bromeliads. It was an amazing place.
There were also many large yellow and brown butterflies. They
were flying all over the area. The waterfall had a fairly large
grotto that had been carved out under it behind the water. I
later found out that there were hundreds of the butterflies
hanging upside down from the roof of that grotto.
We spent several hours there enjoying the nature. Then it was
time to get back across the river. It was at that point that I
found out that the only way back was a narrow path at the back
of the grotto.
At the far end of that path, the roof of the grotto came down
within about 3 feet of the path. One one side of the path was
solid rock. The other side was a thick wall of brush and small
trees.
The big problem is that I am a lot bigger than the people that
normally use that path! I'm about 6'3". I had a friend that also
worked at the hospital. He was an average Mexican size. When we
walked around together, the people called him David and they
called me Goliath!
When I came to that low spot, I had to get down to a low crawl.
I was the last one through. I got down as far as I could and got
through there. But...
When I came out the other side, my wife took one look at me and
asked me, "What happened?"
I was very pale and very shaky. It was obvious just by looking
at me that something had affected me terribly. What had happened
is that when I passed a particularly low spot, I had brushed up
against the overhanging rock with my back. Then, when I came
down lower again, the rock came with me!
I can't remember a moment of greater panic! I was at the bottom
of a tall cliff of rock and I could just imagine the whole cliff
coming down on top of me. You can imagine that I immediately
shook that rock off my back as fast as I could. The rest of the
track went bye in a blur and I was out!
I've thought about that afternoon often since then. For several
reasons... It is a pleasure to remember the beautiful time that
we had there enjoying the beauties of nature that God created
for us to enjoy.
I also remember the feeling of that large rock coming down on my
back. That has made me think of the way the Bible describes the
load of sin that we each carry. If only I had the sense of
urgency to get rid of the sin - the same sense of urgency that I
had getting rid of that rock!
How fast would I be running to the cross, crying for God to take
my burden of sin if I was sensitive to my need.
I pray that we will be less willing to carry our sins around.
The cliff of sin above us is ready to crush us. We must get out
from under it or it will kill us. Let's pray that we are not
content to carry that burden around any longer.
Until next week, may God bless. Ron McCluskey
http://www.trackinggod.com