Pastor Brian Harris from Avenir Leadership Institute joined Bec and Asa on Drive to talk about hidden burdens.

Pastor Brian said a burden can be anything from a health challenge to a job challenge, relationship difficulty or major disappointment.

Define the Burden

“What might be a burden for one person is an opportunity and a challenge for another. They’re things that we carry that just feel heavy. And when they rest upon us, we suddenly become aware of, oh, I’m not feeling all that great.”

Burdens can eat away at people in silent moments and loom over them as concerns, said Pastor Brian.

It is Normal

Pastor Brian told a story of being in church while he wasn’t preaching and hearing the Pastor say, “Let’s take a time in prayer for people who have hidden burdens.”

He said he peeked and looked around and there were several hundred people, most of whom he knew, and it caused him to realise that everyone is carrying something and it can range from health, loss, insecurities and jobs.

“Everyone that I looked at and was chatting to after, I knew in some way was carrying something that was deep for them and was quite difficult for them.”

It made him realise, he also had burdens he was carrying.

Come to Me

In our quieter moments, we can tend to worry but Pastor Brian reminded us of Jesus’ extraordinary invitation in Matthew 11:28:

“Come to me, all you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

“He doesn’t say, Come to me if you are heavily laden, and I will solve it for you, or I’ll carry your load for you. He simply says, And I will give you rest. Jesus doesn’t say, I’m the solution creator, or I take every problem away from you. He simply says, I’ll give you a place where you can just breathe deeply, rest, look at your problem, look at the burden, whatever it is, face it, acknowledge it. and out of a place of rest and trust in me, be able to carry on with life.”

The Promise of Rest

Pastor Brian emphasised that Jesus is not promising solution, but a place of rest where people can be reassured of the normality of burdens in many different forms.

“They can say I’m going to be okay, because I’m resting in Jesus, and I’m trusting in Jesus.”

He said the understanding of this can allow people to be more sympathetic, rather than critical.

“We’re together in this struggle, so we can be a little bit kinder to one another, I think that makes an enormous difference.”

Check out the full chat with Pastor Brian Harris below.