Paradox

I stood at the door, baby in arms, seeing off my visitors. The closing conversation was of me telling them how blessed I was with my little chap. He’s sleeping through the night, easy to wind and a dream to settle. All in all he’s a little honey that I so love and enjoy. But as I closed the door on the visitors I had to smile at the paradox. You see these were not my usual visitors of friends or family. These were my son’s early intervention team for his development and care. You see my little bundle of joy needs a little extra help and care at the moment and the path is not always easy.

Joel Osteen calls it the blessing and the burden. With blessings comes burdens. The promotion at work comes with it more responsibility. The bigger house with more to clean, the overseas trip comes with the arduous plane trip. It’s part of the contradiction of life, that oft-times a blessing comes with a burden. For me the blessing of my son comes with the weight of extra medical appointments.

When we look in the Bible we find many examples of the same. Mary – blessed with carrying the Son of God also had to carry the burden of the social stigma of being unmarried while pregnant. After the birth of Jesus she then being a refugee in Egypt. David too had the blessing of being anointed King but that meant his life was often put in danger.

The important thing to do is to keep our focus on the blessing and not on the burden. It’s about cultivating a heart of gratitude. Focusing on what there is to be thankful for. When we focus on the blessing the burden becomes less.

In Kristene DiMarco’s song Redemption are the lyrics “The darker the night, The brighter the day, The fiercer the fight, The stronger the faith, So I place my hope in You.”

The burden makes the blessing even more special.