When the Burden is Too Heavy

This is not a painting. This is a photo of Slim, the starving horse, renamed Waylin by Hollow Creek Rescue Farm. I promise tomorrow I will return to my regularly scheduled humor, but today, I am indulging in a weep-fest for the animals placed in human care.

Yesterday, I read Numbers 11:12-35. Again, in case you don't have a Bible handy, I will paraphrase. The Israelites after eating Manna from heaven day after day are sick of it. They are longing for filet mignon and scalloped potatoes like what they used to eat as slaves in Egypt in the good old days when all they had to contend with were their children being thrown into the river by Pharoah. They complain to Moses, who looks out over all these people with their impossible demands and his lack of resources (other than the creator of the Universe helping him....) and cries out,"I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me!" Sometimes in situations like that, God teaches about attitude adjustment by having a giant fish swallow us whole, but in this case, He immediately recognizes that poor Moses is not in a playful mood for pranks like that. So He immediately sends Moses seventy wise men to help him, and God annoints them specifically to help Moses and "carry the burden..so that you will not have to carry it alone."

I think this is one of the most magnificent aspects of the Christian faith. We are admonished time and time again to share each other's burdens. And when we just cannot go another step, Jesus Himself carries our burdens for us. Nicole of HCF asked that I would put Waylin's picture out to all my contacts, and see if anyone might want to share the burden of helping Waylin. As with all nonprofits, donations are way down, and work is hard to find for the owners of HCF as well. It is "just an animal", but I believe that one of the most significant places to find God is in the insignificant. Thanks for indulging me, friends.

Oh and if you vote for the HCF dog cowboy at the following link, he might win the farm $10,000 and then lots of animals like Waylin can find refuge! http://mvp.bissell.com/mvp_PetDetail.aspx?id=8589937301