Every time I see Dianne, I want to cry.
Not because she makes me sad.
Usually the emotion starts building before we even begin talking. I walk through her door, we sit down, and somewhere inside me the pressure starts rising toward the surface.
It is almost as if my body knows before my mind does:
I am with someone who doesn’t need me to carry anything right now.
The other day, I went to her house to talk about some of the directions my business could go. I am genuinely excited about using Known Universe as another powerful way to extend the message of Never Easy Always Good.
But before the business conversation could really begin, there it was again.
The tears.
Sometimes I don’t realize how much I am carrying until I sit beside someone who doesn’t need me to carry anything.
Nothing suddenly went wrong.
Nothing became harder.
The emotions of my day-to-day life simply had somewhere to go.
I consider the life God has given me a privilege. I know the people and circumstances in my life are a trust. I know He formed me for this life, and I am humbled that He allows what I have lived, learned, lost, carried, and discovered to affect the lives of others.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But being willing to carry does not mean I was created to carry continuously.
In Exodus, Moses stood overlooking a battle. As long as his hands were raised, Israel prevailed. But eventually, Moses grew tired.
So Aaron and Hur came alongside him.
They did not tell him to try harder.
They did not remind him how important the battle was.
They simply held up his arms.
One on each side.
Until the battle was won.
I think I need more of that in my life.
I need to make room for people I am not responsible for carrying.
I need to allow them to carry me.
I need to let them notice when my arms are tired.
Maybe faithfulness is not proving how much I can carry.
Maybe faithfulness also looks like receiving the people God has already provided.
I walked through Dianne’s door that day thinking about where Never Easy Always Good might go next.
Before we even started talking, my eyes were already filling.
Maybe that was part of the answer too.
God is not only making room for the work He has given me.
He is making sure there are people beside me while I do it.
People who can quietly take hold of one tired arm and say,
I’ve got this side.
Responses