In this second to last chapter of Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working by Craig Groeschel, Groeschel recalls a time when he was asked to preach at a friend’s church. He arrived at the church and was greeted by the church secretary, “I’ve got great news! We’re having a visitor at church today–so you’d better preach great!” Apparently the secretary had received a call from a woman asking for directions to the church. The caller explained that she had hit a rough patch and wanted to try out church. So the church secretary prayed with the caller and told her she’d be sure to look out for her.
Just before church started, Groeschel was standing by the front doors with Virgil, “another pillar from the congregation.” Virgil was very dedicated to his church, and took his post at the front doors seriously. However, as they got to talking, Virgil went on a rant about today’s generation. “They’re rebellious!” Virgil barked. He kept complaining that young people aren’t respectful of God and the church.
It was at that moment that Groeschel saw the visitor pull up in a beat up car so dirty. It had balding tires, low in air pressure and as she got out of the car it revealed a very dented driver side door. She closed her door with a cigarette in her hand and very revealing clothes. Groeschel refused to judge her and ran through his mind several possibilities, “abusive boyfriend?” “drug addiction?” “unemployment?” Depression?” “Abandonment? All of these and more?”
Groeschel uttered a silent prayer asking God to give him the right words to say that might encourage her. However, that silent prayer was interrupted by,….you guessed it….Virgil who “hurled his welcome grenade at the young woman.” “We wear our best clothes for God at this church. Is that the best outfit you own? Or do you just not care what God thinks?”
Groeschel tried to smooth the situation over but it didn’t work. The young woman simply turned and walked back to her car and drove away.
A Burden In Disguise
At that moment, Groeschel “made several promises that (he) vowed to keep for the rest of (his) life.”
I committed to resist judging someone who doesn’t know God. I promised never to turn anyway away from church because of the way they look. I vowed never to become someone like Virgil.
He turned silently from Virgil and walked back into the secretary’s office, “overcome with emotion.” The secretary asked what happened and he told her how “Virgil turned away the hurting visitor.” The secretary asked if she could pray for him and that’s what they did. She “asked God to use this experience to help (his) heart break forever for those who don’t know Christ.”
Groeschel felt like she had just given him a strange gift–“something well-intentioned that was infinitely more valuable than whatever (he) might have asked for”
What’s Your Burden?Blessings come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. It’s normal to give thanks for the good things. God’s blessings, however, aren’t always bigger, better, and beautiful.
I truly believe that God gifts his chosen leaders with a very unusual blessing. You might even call it a weird blessing because most of the time we call it……a burden.
“If you’re like most normal people, you’re probably wondering ‘Why in the world would I want a burden?'” “Isn’t life hard enough?
But God didn’t put us here on earth just to feel good and enjoy ourselves.
He puts us here to make an eternal difference.
If you listen, God will show you something that makes your heart ache on behalf of his. He will bless you with a burden.
Groeschel tells us that if we want to grow closer to God, “if we want our values to be his values then we need to become vigilant for opportunities where he wants to bless us with a burden.”
He provides three areas that he believes will help:
Building blocks and broken pieces——What breaks your heart? He gives an example in the Bible of Nehemiah who was a heartbroken man blessed with a divine burden. A burden to rebuild the very walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was so overcome with emotion of the walls being destroyed that he could barely stomach his discomfort. He discovered that God was blessing him with the burden to rebuild the walls. When was the last time you “felt your heart pierced by the plight of another person?”
Groeschel mentions the story of David and Goliath. We all know the story. No one dared to square up against the giant from the Philistine army. Until a young shepherd name David decided to take matters into his own hands and boldly asked “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)Name it to Claim ItWhen you feel this burden, you might be frustrated, wondering why no one else cares as much as you do.
The reason why you care and others don’t could be because God has aimed it directly at you.
“Normal people want to live a burden-free life.” But as we know, God didn’t call us to be normal. As Paul says in Ephesians, “we are God’s workmanship (or masterpiece) created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
Groeschel then asks us to think about what our burden is. And then to “give life” to it.
So what’s your burden?
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