“After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, only then are the Kohathites to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.” (Numbers‬ ‭4:15‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

God assigns some heavy, holy loads to some specific people. This small faction of the Levites shouldered the sole responsibility of shuttling the pieces of the sanctuary and the sacred utensils from one campsite to another. The tricky part? They could not touch it, even lay eyes on it. Aaron and his sons did the packing. The Kohathites did the heavy lifting.

Sometimes the Lord calls us to cumbersome, complicated tasks. Sometimes these tasks don’t make much sense and maybe even seem cruel. That’s when we must remember that if God has called us to move it, it must be for His Kingdom. We can’t see the whole picture of humanity, we don’t know how our tiny, leaden responsibility might play out in the Kingdom.

The Kohathites helped carry the physical presence of God into the Promised Land. They participated in the establishing of God’s home here on earth. Their pack-mule obedience made way for the temple. Their muscles participated in the unfolding of history. And they were oh-so-close to the things of God.

The Kohathites (and maybe us also) were hard-pressed into Kingdom service, but what better Kingdom could we serve?

What wears like a burden today is surely a Kingdom blessing tomorrow. So we straighten our backs and commit to carrying our loads with grace and dignity, certain of the One who assigned it.

“Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.” (Galatians‬ ‭6:4-5‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” (Mark‬ ‭12:30‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

Lord, we trust Your knowledge and Your sovereignty. We realize that You alone are the assigner of burdens. You will not allow us more than we can bear with Your help. Remind that we are participating in something Kingdom, and give us the grace and strength for another day in Your service. Amen.