Now, because there are a lot of bugs there, they had a cover over the cake. The heat, combined with the weight of the cover over the cake, made the steeple lean over till it looked like the "Leaning Tower of Pisa." There's a spiritual lesson to be learned here.
When the devil turns up the burner under us and it gets hot, and the weight of the cares of the world bear down upon us, it causes us to lean and buckle under the load. As a result, whereas we were strong and upright, we can become bowed over until we lean like the Tower of Pisa.
Now, what's wrong with this picture? Several things! First, Jesus tells us to stand firm. That's easy if the load is light. But we all know life isn't always easy.
It's easy to tell your brother or sister to stand their ground as long as everything is going well in your neck of the woods. But wait until the problems come calling on you, and suddenly, you begin to talk another line.
You can begin to see other people's burdens as light, while your own seem huge. But point two is this; Jesus didn't build you to bear burdens. No, He made donkeys and oxen for that.
Jesus says, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Now, if you aren't bearing burdens, you can stand up straight for Jesus.
You are supposed to be a light, an example for the unsaved world. Your job isn't to take the burdens of others, but to point them to Jesus.
If you're all bowed over under the pressure of burdens, people will ask you, "Why do I need your Jesus? You aren't any better off than I am!" And they're right.
If you tell people that Jesus is your Healer, and you're always sick, they will be real quick to pick up that either you don't believe it, or else Jesus doesn't have the power to keep you well.
Either way, it's mud on your face. And if you're constantly broke, and you tell them Jesus is your Provider, they will ask you, "Where's your provision?"
Now we know about how the devil shoots his fiery darts at us, and we may get knocked down once in a while. But the believer doesn't stay down. He falls down seven times, gets up eight. That's the difference.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."
Paul took his burdens to Jesus, so he was able to stand tall. You aren't the Deliverer, or the Healer, or the Savior...Jesus is. Your job is to point people to Jesus. And you can't do it if you're leaning like the Tower of Pisa.
That tower isn't safe for occupation. It is leaning more and more. One day it will fall down. But Jesus isn't bowed down under the load. He is safe to go to. He will always be there for you, straight and strong.
So if you're going to lean, then lean on Jesus!
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jerry Baysinger was a twenty-one-and-a-half-year civilian employee of Missouri State Highway Patrol and operator of his own successful furniture repair business, when in 1993, he was diagnosed with five melanomas and liver cancer. Given a month to live, he resigned from the Patrol and went home to die. 
