Both Straps On
[Jesus said,] “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (CEB)
Back when I was a teen, I used to wear my backpack slung over one shoulder, the bulk of the bag sliding halfway down my back. It supposedly looked cooler that way. Never mind the inconvenient readjusting or constant aches it put on my shoulder and back.
As the years went on, I learned the painful way that sustainability beats cool every time. Both straps on. Properly adjusted. Snug against my back. Turns out, backpacks work much better when used as designed to distribute the weight correctly.
And I haven’t gone back to using the single strap method since. The shift was permanent and simple, because it had nothing to do with my willpower or discipline. I finally came to understand what my body knew all along: I wasn’t made to carry things a certain way. Fighting against that design only left me in pain.
Jesus offers us a yoke. Not because we’re beasts of burden, but because yokes are designed for sharing weight between two. They fit. They balance. They turn solo struggling into partnered movement.
When we finally adjust both straps, when we finally accept the support we were designed to receive, our posture changes. While the weights never go away, the carrying of them changes. We stop performing independence and start experiencing the gentle, humble presence of Jesus redistributing what we cannot bear alone.
Responsibility is inevitable. And because of the Presence of proper support, rest is possible.
Prayer
Teach us to carry well, Jesus. Help us accept the yoke that fits instead of the burden that breaks. Amen.
About the AuthorPhiwa Langeni creatively invites others into transformational liminal spaces between what has been and what is yet to be. They currently serve as the Associate Conference Minister for Equipping Leaders in the Southern California Nevada Conference UCC.