Beneath The Weight
Beneath The Weight
‘If a brother falls beneath the weight of sorrow’s stone or some cruel fate, I will not pass by with hurried stride, but kneel and lift him to my side.’ ~ jt
God’s Intervention Sometimes Comes Through Human Hands
Life has, at times, taken us all through hard seasons—and it is at those times that God sends His help; not by angels or miracles, but through His people. People filled with the Holy Ghost—people like us.
Scripture paints a vivid picture of the church family—not just walking together, but holding one another up when the weight of discouragement, depression, self-doubt, hopelessness, failure, and so many other things the enemy uses to pull us down (and keep us down) becomes too much to bear.
We Were Never Meant to Carry It Alone
— Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
We are the Church body—the community of faith—not just walking together in the calm, but lifting one another up in the storm, when the burden of fighting against the onslaught of wind and rain becomes too heavy a walk to press through alone.
— Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
God designed the church as a body—a complete body—not as individual parts standing alone. No one part can or should stand stronger on its own. We are bound together, functioning in unity.
The hands lift together. The feet carry the body, step by step in perfect fluid motion. They also stop and stand, keeping the body upright in balance.
We need one another to function properly as a church body. If any one part of us is not working, is broken, or non-functioning… we fail in totality as a body.
When We Don’t Show Up
It pains me deeply to think that there are some—yes, even in the church body—who have turned a deaf ear when they were needed the most. Not because they don’t know how to love, but because they could not see beyond the needs of their own family. They couldn’t see beyond the issues they themselves were embroiled in or conflicted by.
Kneel and Lift... Help Restore
Understand this, my friend: the best way to overcome the difficulties in your own life is to focus on the difficulties in the lives of others; especially those who have fallen—not to accuse, shame, or blame, but to reach out with love and compassion, and help with their restoration—by kneeling down, taking them up in your arms and helping them to stand.
— Galatians 6:1–2 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
Our Hands Are His Hands…
When we reach out to someone in sorrow, fear, or failure, we become an extension of God’s love. Whether it’s:
Restoring someone gently after a fall…
—2 Corinthians 2:7–8 “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.”
Speaking courage to the fearful…
—Isaiah 35:3–4 “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.”
Sitting beside someone in silence…
—Job 2:13 “So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.”
Holding up the arms of a weary leader…
—Exodus 17:12 “But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”
Encouraging someone who feels forgotten…
—2 Timothy 1:16–18 “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:
But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.
The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.”
Every act matters. Every lifted heart is a testimony to the God who lifts us all.
Jesus The Perfect Example
— Isaiah 42:3“A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench…”
Jesus never overlooked the broken. He touched the untouchable. He restored dignity to the ashamed. When we help carry the burdens of others, we are walking in His footsteps. It’s not just kindness—it’s being Christlike.
The Weight You Lighten Might Save a Soul
Sometimes, to you, lifting someone may not seem dramatic. But to the one you are lifting, it is dramatic—powerfully so.
It may come through something simple like a text, a call, a meal, a prayer, a ride or a hug.
All delivered with timely words of encouragement through intercession. Those “little” things can be the very lifeline someone in the body is silently begging God for.
— Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
A Reflection and A Challenge
Who in your life is carrying more than they can bear alone? Whose silence may be hiding sorrow? Whose smile might be covering exhaustion? Who is broken and defeated? Who is alone without a friend?
We have the Holy Ghost—so we have discernment. Ask God to show you, through His spirit, those who need lifting. And then, let His love, His voice, and His healing move through you.
Remember—
‘If a brother falls beneath the weight of sorrow’s stone or some cruel fate, I will not pass by with hurried stride, but kneel and lift him to my side.’ ~ jt
My Prayer
Lord, help me to see those who are burdened and bowed low. Help me to slow down—to care and to act. Let me be God’s hand and God’s heart in someone’s hour of need. Let me be God’s voice to calm the fear, His strength to lift the discouraged and depressed—
not through chastisement, but with love and kindness, extending a hand and an arm to lift and carry. Help me bear the burden, not just with them, but sometimes for them.
Let me lift others…as You have so often lifted me.
~ Brother John Tarter