I watched Coach Kyle lift a bar bending under the weight of 605 pounds.  Those of us left in the gym stopped and held a collective breath as he bent down and slowly, unbelievably, stood back up.  He racked the bar and fell to his knees gasping for air as we erupted in cheers.  When he recovered, he walked across the gym and rang the bell, a new Personal Best.

Minutes later, I was straining to lift a curly barbell.  It looks similar to the barbell that held 605 pounds but with a zig-zag in the middle which makes it easier to grip and lift.  Coaches call it a Baby Bar, which says a lot.  I was working on my last set of bicep curls and unsure of myself.  Coach Brock came and stood in front of me to assist, meaning he used one finger to add a little more lift when I lifted.  On my last rep, I closed my eyes and focused every last ounce of energy into getting that bar all the way up.  When I opened my eyes, all I could see was Coach Brock smiling.  “You got a license to carry those guns?”  That’s cheesy coach-speak for “Good job, girl.  You did it!”  Then with three fingers, he plucked the bar out of my hands and carried it away.

My mouth dropped.  What?  My arms felt like they were about to fall off from the effort of lifting that bar., but he lifted it like it was a toothpick.

To me, it was a heavy thing.

To him, it was light thing.

A Light Thing

I recognized the same kind of shock in King Jehoshaphat in 2 Kings 3.

Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, had foolishly allied himself, again, with Jehoram, King of Israel.  (Hang with me.  The names won’t matter so much in a minute.)

The king of Moab had rebelled and so King Jehoram and King Jehoshaphat marched their armies towards Moab to deliver “a message.”  Unfortunately, they didn’t plan their trip very well.  They marched straight into a desert and then, ran out of water.  (Go ahead, shake your head.  I shook mine.)

They had a big problem.  King Jehoram flat out despaired and gave up.  But King Jehoshaphat had the brilliant idea to inquire of the Lord.  Enter Elisha, God’s Man of the Hour.  Elisha came and spoke the Lord’s message.  I’ll paraphrase:

You made a mess of this, but I’ll have mercy on you. Without rain, I will fill the land with water for you and your livestock.  Oh, and (almost as an after-thought) I will give you victory over Moab.

To be precise, Elisha gave his message and added a subtle rebuke:

This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. - 2 Kings 3:18

The armies were dying of thirst.  The king had a heavy problem.  But it was a light thing for the Lord.

Our Critical Error

We make the same critical error. All. The. Time.  We think our problem is a 605 pound, bar-bending beast and we cannot find our way out from under it.  But that same problem is as light as a toothpick for our all-powerful God.

My spinal cord injury is a beast. Cancer is a beast. Chronic illness is a beast. Why do we try to handle our beasts alone, in our own pitiful strength? We are fools to do that when God is standing beside us ready to lift a finger and lighten our load. In my imagination, I can see Him standing in front of me smiling, waiting to pluck my problem out of my hands. Can you?

The same God who parted seas, made a blind man see, and raised a dead man to life is more than able to lift our impossibly heavy load.  Let’s be quicker than Jehoshaphat to call on the Lord.

What impossibly heavy load do you need to take to Jesus?  Are you ready to ask, “Lord, help, please?”  I promise, He is ready to answer, “My pleasure.”

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