When life over burdens us, do we take it to Jesus or do we try to deal it all by ourselves?
Matthew 14:12
The people close to John the Baptist must have been in pain seeing him now beheaded. They felt the responsibility to tend to his body by burying it and not leaving it unattended. Then they took this pain to Jesus.
These disciples of God are showing the way we should confront our problems. At the moment we most likely need to address the situation. If someone close to us is in pain we should assist. If someone pours out their struggles we should respond with care. But afterwards we need not carry that burden by ourselves. We need to take it to Jesus.
We can take it to Jesus in prayer. Recount the emotions we’re feeling. The thoughts running through our minds. Even take our struggles to church for our sisters and brothers in Christ to pray with us. But we need to bring Jesus into the struggle to lighten the burden.
If we try to deal with it ourselves we will burn out. The pains of the world are meant to hold us down. With Jesus present we can be lifted above our problems. What pains have we not brought forth to Jesus yet? Let us identify what things are we failing to solve on our own when it is Jesus who can raise us above them.
Related Reflections
Faith Amidst Tragedy •
The Power of Faith: Interview with Liz
Follow Jesus in Prayer • Luke 6:12
If we are Christians, are we spending time in prayer as Jesus did?
