The Peculiar Flow

Yesterday, my husband and I were in the pool.

I was on his back, and he ran from one end of the pool to the other with me hanging on. When he finished, I looked at this 6’4” big dawg and said, “Okay, now you get on my back.”

😂

And somehow, I did it.

I carried him across the pool.

While I was walking, he asked me, “Am I too heavy?”

I said, “No.”

When we got to the other end, a man watching us said, “You got a trooper there.”

My husband said, “I know.”

And I proudly put him down like I hadn’t just carried a whole grown man across a swimming pool.

Then he asked, “You tired?”

“No.”

That was my answer.

Now, approximately thirty seconds later, my body had a slightly different testimony. 😂 I needed a moment to recover and possibly an inhaler.

But something about that moment stayed with me.

While I was carrying him, I didn’t feel the full weight of him.

Not because he wasn’t heavy.

Not because I suddenly became extraordinarily strong.

I could carry him because of the environment I was carrying him in.

The water was helping me.

And immediately, I thought about love.

We are called to love one another. Support one another. Pray for one another. Encourage one another. And sometimes, yes, carry one another.

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2

But I think sometimes we attempt to carry people outside of the environment God designed us to carry them in.

We try to carry them in our own strength.

We carry their pain in our minds.

We carry their problems in our bodies.

We carry their decisions as if they are ours to control.

We carry marriages, friendships, children, family members, businesses, ministries and people we love until eventually we are exhausted and wondering why love feels so heavy.

Maybe the problem isn’t always the weight.

Maybe sometimes it’s the environment.

Because when we carry one another in God, something changes.

Prayer becomes the water.

Grace becomes the water.

Wisdom becomes the water.

Patience becomes the water.

The Holy Spirit becomes our Helper.

And suddenly, although the situation still has weight, we are no longer the only thing holding it up.

That doesn’t mean loving people will never tire us.

Remember, after I put my husband down, my body still needed a minute. 😂

And I think there’s something beautiful in that too.

God helping us carry one another does not mean we will never need rest.

Jesus rested.

We are still human.

You can love somebody deeply and need recovery.

You can support somebody faithfully and still need quiet.

You can carry somebody through a difficult season and then sit down for a minute.

Rest does not cancel love.

But there is a difference between being tired from loving someone and being crushed because you believed you had to save them.

I am learning that I am not anyone’s Savior.

Jesus already has that position.

My responsibility is to love.

To support.

To pray.

To encourage.

To tell the truth.

To extend grace.

To help when God gives me the capacity to help.

And when someone I love becomes heavy, instead of immediately asking, “Do I have enough strength to carry this?”

Maybe the better question is:

What am I carrying them in?

Because my husband was still 6’4”.

He was still a whole grown man.

His weight didn’t disappear.

But the water changed my ability to carry it.

And maybe that is what God does for us.

He doesn’t always remove every heavy thing from the people we love.

Sometimes He surrounds us with enough grace that we can walk with them through it.

God never intended for us to love each other independently of Him.

He is the environment.

He is the strength underneath our strength.

He is the One helping us hold what would otherwise be too heavy.

So yes, love each other.

Support each other.

Carry each other when necessary.

But do it submerged in God.

Because some things that would crush you on dry land can be carried when you’re surrounded by the right thing.

And after you put it down?

Baby, go catch your breath. 😂🤍