Suitcases

Walking through the airport I notice a jumbled mess of a passenger.  Her carry-ons are so overstuffed it’s nearly impossible for her to navigate the terminal.  She will never make it down the narrow aisle of an airplane!  Constantly turning around to manage her luggage, bumping into people along the way, she is seemingly oblivious to the rest of us.  It’s almost comical, and then I pause as God reveals this little nugget to my heart.

My own negative baggage is not only slowing me down on the journey He has for me, it’s also rolling over the toes of people who want to love on me and are rooting for me to have a successful future.

What if our invisible, internal baggage were suddenly visible?  The feelings of bitterness and anger, loneliness and frustration; all stuffed to overflowing in our bags.  Right there for the world to see.  Would we really look that much different than the airport passenger? 

Negativity can start out as something small.  It slips onto our backs like a comfy backpack, so light we hardly notice it.

A complaint here, just a “little gossip” there. 

An “I've been wronged” or a “that’s not fair” every once in a while. 

Then it invades our thoughts, playing over again and again in our minds until the negativity begins to swell.

The longer we haul these emotions around, the heavier they become.  Before long, the negativity multiplies upon itself, invading every aspect of our lives and the once unnoticed backpack becomes too bulky.  We find ourselves constantly bumping into others around us, rubbing people the wrong way.  Instead of releasing it, we foolishly find bigger carrying cases to stuff the load in.

But here’s the deal…adding more suitcases to our journey isn't going to allow us the freedom to run forward in this life.

Negativity can sabotage our relationships.  It can leave us defensive and bitter.    

We can become so focused on managing our suitcases of hurt feelings from the past that we miss out on making connections with new friends.  Even if people wanted to get close to us, they couldn’t.  We would smash right over their toes with our assorted luggage collection; oblivious all the while.  

Satan is the father of lies; his favorite button is “replay”.  How easily I can find myself on a continuous loop of negative thoughts and feelings.  Before I know it, my bitterness has morphed into something so large I can barely lift the handle on it anymore. 

Let’s not allow our suitcases full of old, negative thinking to weigh us down any longer!  Instead, let’s drop it all.  If we ask God to reveal the lies that float around in our mind and heart, He will.  God is a big God and He can handle the truth of our raw emotions.  He can handle them and He can heal them! 

He is just that good. 

But we've got to lay them down. 

He won’t force His ways on us.  

He won’t pry them out of our white-knuckled, tightly gripped hands. 

Oh but friend, He will carry the load when we surrender. 

Won’t you join me in the surrendering?  There is freedom in release!

“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.”

Song Lyrics from “Suitcases” by Dara Maclean