Boulders & Backpacks

Most of us grew up hearing that we should help others by serving people or putting others first. And while that’s not completely wrong or bad; somewhere along the way, a lot of us either burned out trying to carry everyone else's weight, or we quietly fell apart because we were too proud to ask for help with our own. Galatians 6 actually speaks to both of those people, and it’s important for us to slow down long enough to hear what it’s saying. {Even if you’ve heard this before, it’s a great reminder!}

Galatians verse 2 says to carry each other's burdens and in verse 5 it says each person should carry their own load. At first glance, that sounds like a contradiction. Which is it? Carry for others, or carry for yourself? But here is where it gets interesting. The original Greek uses two completely different words, and that difference changes everything.

The word used for "burden" in verse 2 describes something catastrophic. Not inconvenient, not heavy, but crushing. Think of a boulder that has rolled into the middle of someone's path. They did not ask for it. They cannot move it alone and standing there telling them to just push harder would be cruel. This is what the verse is talking about. The moments in someone's life that are genuinely too much to carry alone. Things like grief, crisis, and trauma. The kind of weight that stops people in their tracks, is exactly the place where we are called to show up.

On the other hand, verse 5 uses a different word entirely. It refers to the everyday cargo of life, think of it like the backpack you strap on every morning. Your attitudes. Your choices. The responsibilities God has specifically placed in your hands. Nobody else can carry those for you, and honestly, they were never meant to.

Here is where I think we get ourselves into trouble. Some of us have been treating our backpack like it is a boulder, waiting for someone else to come along and carry what was always ours to own. And some of us have a genuine boulder sitting on our chest, and we keep waving people off saying we are fine. Neither of those is strength. One is avoidance, and the other is isolation dressed up as independence.

The love of Christ looks like knowing the difference. It looks like showing up with your whole self when someone cannot move what has fallen on them, because that is exactly what Jesus did for us. He carried what we never could. And it also looks like strapping on your own backpack every day without waiting for someone else to do your growing for you. Some days your backpack may feel heavier than others. That tension is typically where growth happens.  

You were made for both. To be helped when the boulder hits, and to carry your own weight on the ordinary days. Neither one is weakness. Both of them are exactly what you were designed for. If you have a boulder in front of you, don’t hesitate to ask for help today. If you have been avoiding carry your backpack, pick it up and strap it on. Even if it feels heavy, know that God can help you grow while you carry it. I hope wherever you are on this journey, you can hold space for both the backpack and the boulder.