the power of God's word ministry

September 29, 2009

Today's story is about two monks.  In their religion, they believed that a monk should never touch a woman. One day they were walking down by the river and came across a woman who asked for help.  She had to cross the river but didn't have a boat and wasn't able to walk across as the current was very stong.  She asked if one of them would help carry her across.  The older of the two monks accepted and placed her on his shoulders and struggled across the river.  A few times, he almost fell but managed to make it across and back. The younger monk, who waited for him to return, was not as much worried about the monk getting hurt crossing the river but was troubled that he had touched a woman.  The older Monk who noticed this sat him down and explained to him that as long as he was helping someone else, it was okay.  The younger monk agreed and they continued their walk.  Over the course of the next hour, the younger monk continued to bring up the woman as he felt guilty about what had happened.  The older monk finally asked the younger one, "why do you continue to talk about her?  I picked her up, helped her across the river and put her back down.  You, on the other hand, did not help her but continue to "carry" her with your guilt." 

We all have faced or will face a very difficult time in our life.  It might require us to make sacrifices that we do not think we could make.  During this hardship, we might feel like we are about to fall, but trust in God that He will help you.  At times, it might feel that the issue is so heavy and hard to handle that you want to give up.

 Again, trust in God and continue through it.  He will always be faithful to help you.  One thing that you should not do is continue to carry the problem.  After you have passed through the hardship, thank God and don't look back.  Don't be like the young monk that continued to "carry" the woman.  If you continue to talk about the problem and dwell on it, you will "carry" the weight of it on your shoulders again.