Burden Bearers

Friday 27 March
READ: Num 11:16-17
MORE LESSON: Phil. 2:19-22

There was a time when Moses grew tired of the ministry because the burden of the people was too much for him to carry. The people made life difficult for him till he cried to God that he was tired, and prayed for death. One of the greatest weapons the devil uses against God's servants is discouragement and he always uses people to achieve this. You must decide never to assist the devil by being an instrument of discouragement to your spiritual leaders. Rather, commit yourself to be an instrument of encouragement to the prophet God has set over you.

However, in the midst of this discouragement, we learn an important principle: God raised people to bear the burden with Moses. So the LORD said to Moses, Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel . . . I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone: Num 11:16-17 (NKJV). The Lord is still in the business of raising burden bearers for His servants. People that make themselves available to be burden bearers are the ones that will be raised to positions of leadership in the Body of Christ. They will also get to be anointed with the same Spirit that God has placed upon His servant. They are the future leaders of the work of God. There are many blessings that accrue with becoming a burden bearer of the Lord alongside His chosen servant. I pray that God will give you spiritual maturity so that you will not be a burden to God's servants but a burden bearer with them.

Each time God wants to achieve a new dimension of ministry in His servants, He raises men that will do the work with them. God is interested in succession, continuity and expansion of His work, and we also should. We should know that God's work is not a one-man job but one that we all need to carry on together. God is still looking for men that will make themselves available so that He can release His Spirit upon them to carry on the work along with His appointed servants.

When Joshua, the servant of Moses, saw God anoint new men, he quickly demanded that Moses should stop them from prophesying because he felt that the new development would take the ministry from Moses (verse 28). But Moses, a mature servant of God, explained to the young man that it was God's will and for the benefit of all, that men are raised. But Moses replied, Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them! (verse 29).

Today you can be one of the burden bearers that God will raise and anoint for His work if you make yourself available.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that you will be a pillar and not a caterpillar in the Kingdom of God.
* Pray that you will inherit the double portion of your spiritual leader like Elisha and not leprosy like Gehazi.
* Pray to be a tool in the hand of God and not a spanner in the wheel of progress.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
The glory of my latter house shall be greater than the former and I shall make progress.