What’s in that bag, girl???

Hey…and yes…I should be asleep.  But I’m not!  So, continue reading…..

Mmmkay…..I carry a rather large purse…like, a luggage sized bag (almost, maybe a nice sized carry on….don’t judge).  Yes, I own it…I love it…I put all kinds of stuff in there…ALL KINDS.  It gets heavy sometimes, but I just kinda shift stuff around until I can comfortably carry it again.  Well, earlier today (uh…yesterday), I was at Target (don’t ask) and I saw this smaller purse, like MUCH smaller.  It was maybe 1/6 the size of my current bag.  I thought it was kinda cute and I bought it (cause it was on clearance).  I got home and began trying to narrow down what I would fit inside of this MUCH smaller bag.  It got to the point where I couldn’t decide what would be left behind and what items would make the cut so, I did what any large purse toting lady would do…..I GAVE UP!  I began putting my stuff back in my big purse, stuffed the paper back in that Target toy, and gave up!

As I sat on my bed, surrounded by my awesome items, I heard God say, “Do you REALLY NEED all of that STUFF???”  Now, Him being God, I’m sure He’d already decided that I didn’t, but in my mind, I DO…..well, okay, I could potentially need any of those items at any given time.  And you know what, He decided that wasn’t a good enough answer.  Now, I knew in H

is “asking” that there was so much more involved in the question than my nail clippers, notebook, and lint roller.  So, I felt the NEED to downsize.  I sat there and sifted through ALL the things in my bag; I looked at some of it for the first time in days…maybe a couple weeks…(What??? Stuff gets lost in there) and wondered if I would ACTUALLY use it.  I grabbed a small black purse from my closet and started putting things in it.  By the time I was done, I had everything that I NEEDED and could ACTUALLY potentially need, inside of this pint sized shoulder bag.  I was left with a bunch of stuff that I carried around “just in case”.  But, in case of WHAT???  As I looked at the “left behind” items, I realized that about 86% of the STUFF in my purse, wasn’t a necessity.  Like….WHY DO I EVEN CARRY THIS STUFF AROUND????  So, I put all the excess away; I even left the state without it today.  Talk about anxiety!  (I kid…I kid.)

What does my extra crap problem have to do with you???  Well you see, often, we carry around STUFF “just in case” we need it, and not necessarily because we actually will.  We carry around guilt in case we need to apologize AGAIN.  We carry around our wall, in case we need to keep somebody out of our lives.  We even carry around hate, in case someone does us wrong, AGAIN.  We carry around envy, in case someone gets that thing we wanted after we’ve already “prayed” about it.

Unnecessary burdens fill our bags and we carry them around like a badge of honor, explaining to people why we ‘are the way we are’ and can’t change.  Some of the “stuff” we carry around, we don’t even notice is there for weeks, months, even years at a time, until someone does something that reminds us that it’s there, in the left zipper compartment behind the button.  We write it off as “it’s just who I am” and expect others to do the same.  So many times, we get to the place where this weight gets TOO HEAVY, but we just kinda shift it around until we can carry without “noticing” it again.  This is definitely NOT what God intended for us to do.  So much stuff we hold on to isn’t ours to carry around.

We must learn when enough is enough and too much is just TOO MUCH!  Those things that you are holding on to are burdens.  Hate, guilt, envy, are things that we allow to burden us and hold on to us.  Psalms 55:22 says, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”  In the NLT Bible, it says, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”  These weights cause us to fall!  We fall into depression, temptation, and other things that are not pleasing to God.  In Matthew 11:28, Jesus tells us to “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  He wants us to rest in Him and allow Him the opportunity to handle our problems.

How often do you “carry” stuff around that you know you NEED to leave at the feet of Jesus?!?!?  I know that often, it’s difficult to let go but, IT’S THAT SIMPLE!  What is puzzling is that, the very things that we hold on to and refuse to let go of, are the things that have us bound and hurt us the most.

So, forgive!  We have the opportunity to forgive others as God forgives us.  Who are we to hold stuff over their heads when Christ forgave us and forgives us on a daily basis???  “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” Matthew 6:14 (NLT)

Let go of the guilt!  Christ died to free us from guilt and regret.  He allowed us the chance to repent and leave it behind.  “You forgave the guilt of your people—yes, you covered all their sins.” Psalms 85:2 (NLT)

Let go of envy!  What’s yours is YOURS and nobody can receive it but you.  If they have it, it wasn’t yours to begin with.  “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.”  Proverbs 14:30 (NLT)

And while you’re letting stuff go….let go of other burdens that have you weighed down.  EMPTY THAT BAG AND DOWNSIZE!!!  I did (not just talking about my purse but I do kinda like it) and it feels GOOD!!!  Now, don’t miss my point…if you carry a large purse, carry on but put those burdens DOWN!

Love y’all!  (Imma go to bed now…and yes, imma is a word!)

Ms. A.M.White