This is our B moment. Our moment to be still…to be fed by the Word of God…to be grateful.
Scripture reference: Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)
Today, I am thinking about what it means to be a “bag lady” in the spiritual realm.
I wish to tell the following story as tactfully as I can, so please bear with me. I saw an old friend the other day, and I was astonished to find that she appeared much older than I expected her to.
I soon realized that she hadn’t actually aged as much as I believed, but instead it seemed that she was wearing these invisible bags of weary that kept her weighed down.
This weary was evident all across her face. It had even moved into her thinning hairline, her posture, and the tone of her voice. When I walked away from her, my heart just ached.
However, I quickly reminded myself that her situation could be mine, too. The key to preventing this invisible baggage from wearing us out is to remember to lay our burdens down, rather than carrying them everywhere we go.
God teaches us in Matthew that we should come to Him with our burdens, and He will give us rest. So although some of us carry around baggage we took on over twenty years ago, we need to remind ourselves that He wants to give us respite from our burdens.
When you add the numerous stresses of today to those that we carry from long ago, it is no wonder that we seem painfully weary, just as my girlfriend did. However, when we find ourselves in this situation, it is difficult to be seen as a beacon of God’s light as our baggage is weighing us down and casting a shadow over us.
So starting now, let us cling to these words for comfort: “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down…and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)
Please share this reflection as others desire to be inspired.
So today, take off the extra weight and run your race.
William J. Pickens
To My Daughter-in-Spirit,
Just a very short note to thank you for sharing these wonderful spiritual words of wisdom. You are truly a warrior Suzette, in the truest sense of the word. Please keep your peace of mind, and continue to be the extraordinary servant for our God that you are.
Suzette
Thank you for your thoughtful words! So glad today’s message about how God wants to take your load really touched you. As we reflect on the Lent Season, we tend to give up our daily Starbucks or other goodies we desire. I think God is saying “give up” things like worry, doubt, anxiety — those things that keep us from being in His full embrace. Always, Love & Light, Suzette