You Are Not Alone, Part 2

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 

                                    Romans 12:10

I set out to go walking one Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, to get a cardio workout in since I didn’t quite feel like going to the gym. I brought a six-ounce water with me, put in my AirPods and started listening to the last minutes of Francis Chan’s Letters to the Churches on Audible (side note: this is an absolutely terrific book, by the way!). I started down a main street in the greater Stone Oak neighborhood, mapping out in my head where I’d walk and bump that against the time I needed to run errands I’d intended to run later that day. Off to a great start, I decided to deviate from where I had originally intended and went up to the back end of Huebner road, where it intersects with Hardy Oak. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a new stretch of road that has provided shortcuts and time savings to travelers going to Costco and the medical center area. That specific corner is nothing but concrete and asphalt and fenced-off dry land.

Proud that I was getting in a good workout by merely walking in the oppressive Texas humidity (it was only 90 degrees but it sure felt hotter), I looked down at my watch after a while to see that it was tracking my heart rate at an impressive but insane 180 beats per minute. Looking for some shade, I found a small tree that provided a smidgeon of it and sat down, willing my heart rate to go down and drinking some water to hydrate. When it finally got down to about 146 beats per minute, I figured it would be safe to start up again. I walked slower this time, not wanting to tax my system any more than I needed to in the head and humidity. When I found my heart rate back up to 180 in less than two minutes and feeling kind of woozy, I sought shade in which to sit down. Because it was 11:20, the sun was nearly straight above me and this being Texas, there really aren’t the types of trees around that can provide a decent amount of shade. I sat near a concrete barrier, debating with myself what my figurative next steps should be. You see, I pride myself on being in decent shape—I don’t run marathons and am certainly not a gym rat, but I do work out with a personal trainer twice a week and do cardio workouts the other days, resting on Sundays now that we’re back in person at church. It was only 90 degrees—I’ve walked and worked out in hotter weather. I was only a mile and a half from home—once I got up the slight hill, it would have been a fairly simple return. I should have been able to go on in my own strength. However, my heart rate wasn’t decreasing at the rate it seemed to before, and the wooziness got worse, turning into nausea. Reluctantly, I called my husband to come pick me up and sat on the curb, defeated.

My husband showed up just a couple of minutes later, handing me my water bottle and drove me home. I apologized and thanked him, telling him I felt like such a wuss for having to call him. He said that he was glad that I had, saying that the main message he heard when he was going on rucksack runs and other physical fitness exercises in the Air Force was to not overdo it in the heat—to not let yourself get overheated and risk heat exhaustion or even heat stroke. When we got home, I sat on the couch cooling off, exhausted, doing absolutely nothing (which is not like me at all) but rewatching season one of The Good Place.

Fast forward to a little bit later that week when I was on a weekly Zoom call with five other Christian women from my Emmaus group. One of them had written a devotional about the emotional valley she had been in for a bit. In this devotional, she reminded those who may be feeling too overwhelmed in their valley to reach out to those in the body of Christ for help, and exhorted Christian brothers and sisters to reach out and check on those they may not have heard from in a while. When I gently asked her why she herself hadn’t followed her own advice and reached out, she said that she felt that she should have been able to go through it by herself. Sound familiar?

My dear friend is one of those who is constantly watching out for her family and friends, to lift up and take care of them. She dislikes feeling like she is burdening someone else with her problems, and felt that she should have been strong enough to handle this time alone (well, not fully alone, because she did cry out to Him). The five of us lovingly fussed at her, explaining that when she is overburdened, we can come along side of her and help carry her load and pain. We asked her to let us be a blessing to her, understanding that it is in that helping that we are blessed as well.

Friends, life is not without its challenges, especially as of late with the absolute chaos that has been the year 2020. It is difficult to not be impacted in some way by the pandemic and action resulting from it, racial injustice, the political arena, riots, unemployment, and so much more. It’s understandable and normal for your emotional health to be impacted by these things. Be watchful, however, for those signs that may indicate that your handling of things may be getting too stressed and that help, professional or otherwise, is needed. Some of those signs (this is not an exhaustive list) can include withdrawing from friends and family (like not wanting to answer the phone when someone calls or declining invitations to meet (not COVID-related)); not coming to church or watching the livestream; or finding yourself spending less time in the Bible or less time in prayer.

If you do realize one or more of these signs, I ask you to reach out to someone—a Christian friend, a counselor, Pastor Wayne—someone who can help you or at least listen. Resist the urge to think that as a believer, you should have all it all together. Resist the urge also to think that anyone will think less of you because you reached out—quite the opposite, I’d say!  

Friends, you are surrounded by the body of Christ. Paul reminds us in his first letter to the Corinthians that we, who are many, were all baptized into one body, and that when one member suffers, all members suffer with him or her. Just like we surrounded our friend in that Zoom call, your church family can do the same for you. We can do that for each other.

There is a song that we sing at each Walk to Emmaus event entitled The Servant Song (here is a link to it on YouTube) and its lyrics fit so wonderfully here in this lesson:

Will you let me be your servant?
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey.
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you;
Speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of Christ's love and agony.

I will echo my friend’s admonition from her devotional: if you find yourself in a valley, reach out. If you are not in a valley, check in on your friends and family who just might be. Pray, text, call, visit, or do all of the above, but attend to them.

Prayer Requests

·      For Mark Hardison who will be receiving treatment for the additional signs of cancer recently discovered. Pray for Roseann as well.  

·      For positive change and healing in the racial and social landscape of our nation

·      For law enforcement, first responders, healthcare workers, pastors and church leaders

·      For families who are dealing with school starting in the midst of a pandemic

Know that you are being prayed for, even if I don’t know your specific situation. Know that the Lord is with you—cling tightly to His promise to never leave you nor forsake you. Know that you are a member of the body of Christ and are loved tremendously.

 Quotes

“Remember He is the artist and you are only the painting. You can’t see it. So quietly submit to be painted.”    --C.S. Lewis

“God’s plan for your life far exceeds the circumstances of your day.”