It is loud, chaotic, and stressful. I am in the process of packing my 3 kids to go see family. I notice how neatly I have put everything in each bag. For instance, for every day I have rolled a shirt, shorts, and undergarments together so that all they have to do is grab the roll and go. Yet, all the while I knew how disorganized this would become once opened by my children to put items in or grab something out. It is like the mental baggage we carry with us, items in – items out.
Some bags we carry are weightless, manageable; when they get heavy, we unpack. However, some of us carry bags with a weight of a ton of bricks, stuffed full, bursting at the seams, so heavy it is taking a literal breath from you and chokes the life right out of you. We carry it thru to each relationship, sometimes it is never unzipped and yet it can open like a carry-on bag or worse, a full 6-piece set all at once.
We, as followers of Christ, are told to lay it all down at the feet of Jesus and He will carry the load for us. So, why did I insist on picking up my baggage back up after I have laid it all down? Oh my, please tell me I am not the only one. Living life, all is going great …and then something is said, done, or even a particular smell and boom. I am right back to that place of shame and hurt. Just that quick, I pick it all right back up and wrap myself in it like a blanket. It is a cozy little joke; what I have always known, Odd as it may sound, it seems comfy in the dark. But we all know it’s not that cozy, comfy, and never ever safe.
I know this is Satan using all his tools, the ones he knows will always work. Yet here I am again, allowing him to get into my head and chip away at all Jesus has restored.
A couple of years back I made one of those new year’s resolutions, you know the ones that we always break within a week or so? This one had to be different, as I knew the damage it had already done (and was continuing to do) to me. Resolution: to pay more attention to what/whom I allowed in my head. When I say whom this included friends, family, and people from my past, but most importantly it was the lies I told myself daily.
Over the years I had allowed other’s negative talk/lies to create a narrative that I believed and then continued to tell myself. They became a never-ending recording, replaying over and over.
Lie: “You are not and will never be loved, nor are you worthy of love.”
Truth: “I am loved.” John3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Yes, we all know this verse, but do we really understand what it means? Let this marinate in your soul and take it all in, what it means. I know once I did this, it changed everything. The depth of love is unfathomable.
Lie: “No one understands, and you do not belong anywhere.”
Truth: “I am accepted.” Ephesians 1:6 “…the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
Lie: “God will never accept, nor will he love you. You sin every day; just look at what you have done and what has been done to you.
Truth: “No matter what I have done, it has been forgiven and written off like a bad debt. I am redeemed and forgiven.” Colossians 1:14 “…in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
If you are carrying baggage that is getting heavier, I encourage and pray over you to lay it all down at the feet of Jesus and walk away from it. Warning! It can be a daily process, laying down and picking back, but take heart, eventually, the bag you are carrying will begin to feel weightless while releasing it all to Him.
You, my sister, are chosen, wanted, and dearly loved.
Missy Burks, Guest Writer
Lean into Jesus Ministries
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12
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