The Burden Bearer

It was a day like any other when I met one of my former colleagues while walking downtown. I greeted her, and we exchanged some pleasantries and shared some old memories. She gladly remembered my faith, and encouraged by her good memories, I invited her to visit our church the next Sabbath. She came, and though she seemed to enjoy the service, she never came back. Some years later, our paths crossed again. While we were busy catching up, she took me by surprise when she asked me, “Do you remember when I came to your church, and you asked me if you could hold my baby for a while? At that moment, I felt like a huge burden had been lifted from my shoulders as my baby passed from me into your arms! It seemed as though all my burdens were lifted up by an Omnipotent Power. How much I enjoyed that moment!” I was amazed to hear her words, and I felt humbled by such an unexpected affirmation.

I admitted sincerely I could not remember that gesture, even though I really love children, especially babies. It has always been a joy to cradle them in my arms, to feel their softness and the coziness of being close to them. After a while, as we continued to chat, my foggy memory recalled her holding a baby boy in her arms but nothing more.

“I still vividly remember that feeling of unprecedented deliverance of my burdens,” she repeated. “And it was you who made me feel so relieved.” I told her that I did not even remember doing such a thing, but I took the opportunity to share with her that God, who loves her very much, had used me to extend His love toward her. If the simple act of holding a tired mother’s baby had exerted such a mighty influence, we would do well to daily follow the counsel to “find time to comfort some other heart, to bless with a kind, cheering word someone who is battling with temptation and maybe with affliction. In thus blessing another with cheering, hopeful words, pointing him to the Burden Bearer, you may unexpectedly find peace, happiness, and consolation yourself.”* Our Burden Bearer invites us to follow His example and bless others with His love.

Viorica Avrămiea

* Ellen G. White, Our High Calling (Washington, DC: Review and Herald®, 1961), 64.