Infiltrating my apartment the last few weeks (besides the sticky humidity) has been the peppy beat of one of my favorite singers, Dara MacLean:
How can you move when they’re weighing you down
What can you do when you’re tied to the ground, yeah
You carry your burdens, heavy like gravity
Just let them go now, there’s freedom in release
You can’t run when you’re holding suitcases
It’s a new day throw away your mistakes and open up your heart
Lay down your guard, you don’t have to be afraid
Just breathe, your load can be lifted
There’s a better way when you know you’re forgiven
Open up your heart, lay down your guard
You don’t have to be afraid
Can you imagine what it’s like to be free
Well, send those bags packing, they’re not what you need
Abandon your troubles on the side of the street
Just let them go now, believe me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYMM3FYPv30
In the midst of this catchy tune, an all-too-necessary truth meets me face to face. How often do we carry all of our baggage with us--totally weary and just longing for the day when we can just drop it at the luggage carousel of no return? In the spirit of full disclosure, I know that I sure do! This song reminds me that Christ is constantly asking me to drop those bags and let him carry the load. A lot of times, I know that my baggage of past experiences is not healthy or helpful in my life, but I live carrying it with me because I "know" my baggage. It's comfortable and almost a part of me because I have been carrying it for so long. But what would it be like to be free??
As I self-reflect on my baggage---I carry around me a huge fear of failure. This baggage weighs me down sometimes from fully taking the leaps of faith that the Lord places right before me. Like a Mary-Poppins bag---my luggage is bulging with so many miscellaneous items. However, my bags are filled with the lies that say, "If you fail--if this is not a success--YOU are a failure." It's even filled with prideful lies that make me believe that if I see success in my life, it's because of me and something I've done right. But I love how God continues to pursue my anxious, prideful heart and take my over-filled, weighty luggage and refill it with the truths that somehow make the load so much more bearable.
Just the other day, I was reading in my study of Isaiah Chapter 41, where it says (vs. 9-10) "You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off"; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Let me tell you, God has really been whispering into my heart with that scripture right to where I am in life. He has definitely surprised me beyond belief with the way different opportunities have grown beyond what I ever imagined. There are opportunities for me to take credit for a lot of hard work that I've put into my work. But at the end, it's my prayer that I would never be fooled by my baggage of insecurities that tempt me to take the credit for this success. It's only because God is with me, and He strengthens me, and He helps me, and He upholds me with His righteous hand that I have been able to hurdle the stumbling blocks along the way on this journey. I need to continually lay my bags at he feet of the Lord and take a sincere look at what's inside. And I think as I do---I will find a freedom and joy (not completely free of struggle and strife) but full contentment and peace in who Christ is and who I am as a daughter of the King.
**Post was inspired by this youtube video!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrvJIznZKtU
Questions I'm pondering:
1.) What would it look life if we saw the baggage behind the behavior and spoke into the lives of others out of the eyes of Christ?
2.) What baggage is the Lord asking you to let him carry?
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