A LOAD TOO HEAVY
By Erwin Bourne—March 29, 2002
Are our knees about to buckle beneath the weight of
mission responsibilities? Will our hearts break
beneath the heavy stress? Christ in His weakened
physical condition staggered beneath his cross. The
soldiers forced Simon from Cyrene to carry His cross.
By 7:30 this Saturday morning, Jean and I have
already had enough accountability heaped upon us to
swamp us. I need to buy four 20-pound bottles of LP
gas for families for which I am immediately
responsible. Why didn’t these run out one by one and
give me a break. An AMA leader’s wife is suffering
severely and needs to go to specialists in Iquitos,
Peru. We have arranged for her to go by float plane.
I am consulting with a young pastor who arrived last
night with his family. Also I had the disagreeable
task of expelling a drunken youth from the premises.
He called me “Diablo!” Many such incidents add weight
to the load. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after
me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily
and follow me.”
“You will never be called upon to give anyone more
grace than God has already given you.” —by Max Lucado
Are the foregoing responsibilities too heavy to bear?
Of course not! They are in the line of duty. And
furthermore, Pastor Max needs money for a Leticia
church project. Mission AMA has exactly $5,000.00
pesos to its credit which amounts to $2.50 U.S.
Is the accrual of these A LOAD TOO HEAVY? He giveth
more grace! The load that is too heavy for us to bear
is an ungraceful spirit. Hatred will sour our
attitude and break our backs. The load of bitterness
is simply too heavy for us. We thank our dear friends
for the following response:
“Dear Erwin and Jean, You have been faithful for a
long time and God is honouring your "stickability".
May you see more and more accomplished for Him in
these last days. So glad to hear of the wide open
doors along the Amazon trail too. We pray that the
Lord will strengthen you both physically as the work
grows daily. God bless you both. Love from Noel and
Sandra Quinlan”
—Erwin and Jean Bourne