Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens… – Galatians 6:2, AMP

Pascale Honore became a paraplegic nearly two decades ago when she was thrown from her vehicle during an auto accident. A resident of Elliston, South Australia, Pascale has watched her two sons grow up surfing, but her paraplegia has prevented her from joining her boys among the waves – until about six months ago.

Late in 2012, Tyron Swan, a friend of Pascale’s sons, invited Pascale to surf with him. Using a backpack bought from K-Mart and a roll of duct tape, Pascale’s sons fastened their mother to Tyrone’s back, and this dear lady has not stopped surfing since! As their Web site www.ducttapesurfing.com reports, the team will soon be traveling Australia in search of bigger and better waves!

When I saw the video* above, my thoughts immediately turned to the lesson of Galatians 6:2. As Christians, we ought to help people bear the burdens they cannot bear alone. We ought to come alongside such overburdened souls and lift them up when they cannot lift themselves up. And, when we see people in need, we ought not sit back on our laurels and wait for those people to beg us to help them. Rather, we are to do what Tyrone did, and that is to make the offer to help when the need is obvious and when it is within our power to fulfill the need.

Helping others bear their heavy burdens may very well mean hard work and inconvenience for us. But if the Lord has shown you that it is YOU He wants to use to lift a fallen person up, then accept the hard work and accept the inconvenience. Bundled with those two things will be the tremendous joy that only service to others can generate.

* If you have trouble viewing the video embedded in this post, please try refreshing your browser.

** Sadly, Pascale Honore passed away in September 2015 due to health complications. Learn more by clicking here.