Baggage usually refers to what we would take when we go on a trip. However, it really hit home to me, recently, that our baggage can also be the things that happen in our life or even to us in this life. It’s those things which are heavy but we refuse to let them go. We carry them around everywhere that we go without really examining why we do so. We’ve gotten so used to carrying that weight that it becomes just another thing that we attach to our everyday lives. Yet, it still weighs us down and keeps us from opening ourselves up to our God. We refuse to let Him have it and yet we cannot stop carrying it with us.
We carry baggage like worry and anxiety and fear and pride and, ultimately, resentment. This really came to me from reading Luke 10:38-42 and listening to a reflection video about it, where the deacon was talking about Martha, who is busy with serving those who came with Jesus while her sister, Mary, is sitting and listening at Jesus’ feet. Martha is worried and anxious about getting all the serving ready and done to be handed out and yet, she lets her fear of failure and her pride stand in the way of immediately asking for help. Instead, her feelings turn to resentment that she is not getting the help that she needs so she complains about it to Jesus.
How many of us are so very much like Martha? The stories in the Bible teach us that time and place doesn’t change for any of us. Martha is just one of the many examples that we can pull from. Know that what baggage Martha carried then, we still carry today. We worry about what isn’t getting done, when we should be listening to our Lord. We feel anxious when things don’t turn out the way that we think they should, when we should be still and wait on our Lord to move on our behalf. We let fear take our joy and steal our ability to calm our anxious heart, when we should remember His beautiful and amazing Grace that He has for us. We let pride and perhaps resentment stand in our way of asking for help or prayer, when we should remember that our God is with us all of our days not just occasionally.
We have a choice in how our struggle ends. Do we continue to carry that baggage from place to place like a badge of honor? Or do we hand it over to our beautiful and loving Savior who wants to help us carry that load? Know this, the choice always remain yours. Also, consider this when you are making that choice, the rewrite of your story only begins when you choose listening over worry, when you choose mercy over resentment and His presence in your life over anxiety. It’s not an easy task at all, of course, since we have gotten so used to carrying that baggage, but I know that it will be so much easier in the long-run when we share the load with our Lord and Savior.
What did I learn from this? I had never realized before how much I was like Martha. I mean, I did but I didn’t really connect those dots until today. My goal in this life is to please God in every way possible. I think and know and feel and believe that I have done that for the most part, but I was still continuing to carry that baggage around that I have of my own insecurities and worry and fear and pride. I have heard that a lightened load makes it so much easier to carry and I haven’t done that completely or in total surrender to Him. So, my resolve, now, is to sit at the foot of Jesus and listen and learn and grow because I’m beginning to understand that my baggage is not mine alone to handle. For that, I am supremely grateful.
So, what can you gain from this? Is your baggage weighing you down? Do you struggle to let it go or even share the weight of it? Are you letting fear and anxiety and resentment and pride stand in your way of asking for help?
Know that you are never alone. All humans have this problem. We use social media to make us sound good but we all carry burdens that no one sees. We hide it behind masks or in the baggage that we carry along with us. The problem is, is that until you deal with that baggage, it will just continue to follow you. I pray that you begin to see that only Jesus can help you to release some of what you carry. When you choose to give it to Him, then everything gets so much better from there. I know because I’ve been doing the same thing, too. It’s hard to let go but when you let God have it, your baggage just gets a little bit easier to handle. (Related post: “Letting Go and Letting God”)
