Rarely is life black or white – all good or all bad. Even when there might be distinct and profound moments of each, most days remain a mix of the two. And learning to accept these blessings and burdens gives us greater freedom and peace as we navigate the many bittersweet realities of life.
For instance, we might enjoy our work and find deep satisfaction in fulfilling the call God has for us. And work still has its burdens – many aspects that bring stress and can wear us down.
Even the best of marriages will also have their hard days. There will be moments in which we feel perfectly matched with each other, and many other times we struggle to reconcile our stark differences.
Likewise, there are few joys that compare to seeing our kids learn and grow. But even here there will be many moments in which we’re stretched thin and wishing for just a moment of relief from our parenting burden.
Whatever it looks like, the blessings of life are usually experienced with their fair share of burdens as well. And wisdom reminds us to accept the reality of both – neither diminishing our blessings just because they come with a burden, nor pretending our burdens don’t exist just because we want to be grateful for our blessings. This gives us the freedom to dance with both – either in turn or at the same time.
We stress ourselves out and invite much unnecessary suffering when we feel everything must be one or the other. It’s a sober joy that allows us to delight in our many blessings without denying the burdens that come our way as well.
In the end, find the freedom and peace your soul craves by accepting the blessings and burdens of life. These often go hand in hand, and there’s no need to deny one for the other.
Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash
