Devotionals

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The Vision and the Burden

“Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.” Matthew 14:19

There seems to be a struggle on behalf of leaders in the church today as we deal with weariness and distractions. The truth is, although we are highlighting this particular group, the Body of Christ in general may be sharing the same conflict. There may be many reasons for this influx of troubled souls, but let us cover at least one.

When God gives us a vision, or shall we say “calling”, we easily become excited about the possibilities of Him working in and through us. There is a tendency to grab hold of the vision and cling to it since we do not want to lose it. In doing this, the vision can quickly become the burden. Very often this occurs without our knowledge until one day we are overwhelmed with all the work that we must do which was originally to be done by the Lord. We may become fearful that the Lord will judge us harshly because we did not fulfill His plans; or we grit our teeth and step with more determination into the way which we believe that He has intended for us to go.

When the opposition comes we grow tired quickly and wonder why there seems to be very little accomplished. This leads to more energy exertion to try and carry out the call. We see it over and over again, then wonder why we lose so many valuable leaders. Or why the church is not winning the world to Christ.

In the story listed above, we see that the disciples were not the ones who bore the burden of feeding the multitude. Yet week-after-week, those in leadership roles across the nation seem to think that they are responsible to nurture the flock. Our idea of ministerial success is one more phone call, one more hospital visit, one more sermon to preach. One more card in the mail, one more visit to a jail, one more lesson to teach. And we wonder why the sheep look so malnourished.

The burden does not belong to the leader. God never called anyone to bear the burden of ministry alone. He was the One who picked up the basket. He was the One who blessed and broke it. He was the One who made it multiply. Notice the task of the disciples. They were distributors of His blessing! That’s it!

The vision may be appealing, the dream may be strong, but He must be the One to make it multiply so that others will be blessed. He does not want the vision to become a burden. He reveals things to us so that we may ask for His help and seek His glory. He desires for us to be vessels in His hands, but never asks us to move the mountain alone.

We must begin to realize that the vision, which we are so attracted to, can become a burden if it is not surrendered to Him.

May we as leaders (and laymen) realize that He is the miracle worker, we are the distributors. It is a wonderful way to live, because He can do so much more when our burden is His.

Be Blessed !!

Glen E. Spaugh

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