My Baggage?

I love to analyze and find the root meanings for some of the cliches we all say with such regularity. I've heard people often say that some of us carry a lot of baggage. I get a mental picture when I think about someone that is carrying a lot of baggage. I see a person that is on their way to some particular destination but are being slowed down by this cumbersome load of travel bags and suitcases. They look frustrated and not at all in the mood to have a conversation with anyone because they are trying to manage the load they are carrying. The poor guy loaded down with all that baggage is just not able to enjoy his surroundings. That kind of person never seems to be able to relax after such a tortuous ordeal.

Now that I have sufficiently created the mental image of carrying baggage, I can clearly see the anguish in our soul when our lives are bogged down with excess baggage. What are we carrying in those bags anyway? Why are they so heavy and why are there so many? I can only comment on my baggage because I packed those bags myself. One of the bags that really bogs me down is my man-pleaser bag. Man, I stuff that bag full sometimes. That bag is full of my own self-imposed expectations that make it easier for me to make everybody happy. I also have this little guilt bag. The guilt bag is small but very weighty. It is full of all my failures.

I also have a "fear for all" suitcase. I hide all of my fears and uncertainties in that suit case. I don't want anybody to see what's inside that suitcase. It's just too embarrassing. My last piece of luggage is the "my way" travel bag. That bag gets me into so much trouble. It's loaded down with ego and strong willed stuff.

I think that I would throw those bags away if I could find another place to put the contents. I put all that stuff in those bags so that no one else can see them.

The Truth: No matter how hard I try to hide these things in my bags, I clearly show all what's in those bags by the way I travel.

I kind of relate this baggage story to a man trying to hide his hideous frustrations in darkness. What really needs to happen is that those frustrations need to be brought into the light. Jesus is often referred to as light in the scripture. Bringing our dark hidden things to Jesus would not be embarrassing. It would be liberating. He knows our weakness. He knows we are frustrated. He wants to rid us of all this weight. I know that it's difficult to comprehend the humility of God but consider this, He made himself small and human like us so that we could see him. He participated in our hunger and pain and at the same time was the God Almighty. He could have snuffed out every wrong doer in His wake but He stopped and gave us His time.

We need to make new travel plans. We need to empty our bags and travel light. You know what it's like to travel light. You feel free! You can stop and enjoy people. You can go to more places. You can love life when you are free. True freedom comes from knowing the Lord because within that relationship you will find plenty of light and you will be able to see where you are going. The dark places will soon vanish.

Now, if I could just prevent those bags under my eyes from showing up.