Luggage

It’s our Lord who will sustain us, not ‘our’ burdens.

In July, this year, we attended a wedding in London. We got to London, Victoria coach station, and found that it’s massive and very crowded. Everybody seemed busy headed somewhere. I paused for a moment and it was as if my eyes were opened and I was able to take a note of what was going on from a different perspective, or a spiritual perspective.

All these people had luggage with them, either pulling it along or carrying it on their backs. Everyone seemed to be edging through with their luggage, despite the thronging crowd. From a spiritual view, I thought this must be how God sees us from above. We’re so busy in this life, heading to heaven, carrying and pulling burdens with us which are so much part of us that we don’t even notice them anymore.

These burdens are slowing our journey, and God keeps on asking us to cast our burden, or ‘luggage’, on to Him and take His yoke, which is easy, and carry His burden which is light. He wants us to have His burden, rather than our own heavy ones. ‘For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome’ (1 John 5:3).

Sometimes we feel like we don’t want to let go, for we feel as if it’s become a part of us, a part of who we are, our ‘identity’. We’re not sure whether we’ll feel empty, naked or lost without it. So, we choose to hang on to it, although our Lord asks us to cast it on Him. Our Lord wants us to travel light, but the whispers from the enemy, just like the announcements in the coach station or airports, keep on sounding in our ears; “You must carry your luggage with you at all times. Don’t leave your luggage unattended”. That’s the voice of the enemy, and we’ve got to stand up against it, in Jesus’ name.

We love a quick fix, a temporary relief, just as we hand over our luggage when we travel and then pick it up again at our destination. We lean on our own understanding to deal with issues, while the Lord wants us to run to Him for refuge. At the cross Jesus cried out, “It is finished”, so we should take our burdens to the cross and leave them there.

Today the Lord’s waiting patiently for you to initiate a step in casting that burden to Him, be it anxiety or anything else. He’s ready to take it off your shoulders so He can sustain you.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I commit my ways to You and trust in You, not in myself. I cast my burdens on You, and I proclaim that my identity is in You. ‘Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation’ (Psalms 68:19). In Jesus’ name, Amen.