calling all to baggage claim.

Alright…I am going to paint you a picture so bare with me. 

Imagine yourself at an airport. You just came off the flight about to take on a new adventure. You stand there in baggage claim and wait for your luggage to come around on the conveyer belt. You see all the higher end pieces of luggage come around. (You know what I’m talking about…the Michael Khors, Kate Spade, Dooney and Burke, and etc.) You start to get a little embarrassed because you have the Target/ Walmart special. You quickly grab you luggage when it comes around hoping no one sees and book it to your transportation vehicle to get on your way. 

That’s a lot like how we feel about our past. We all have baggage. You may think some has better than others…oh but sister, you are SO wrong. 

I told this story to the youth this week. When I travel, I often find myself looking at the fancy luggage compared to what I have. That is just like my baggage compared to others. We go through trials and tribulations that make us a little uncomfortable. We may be embarrassed about what we went through, but don’t be. These are the things that God is using to mold us into the person He created us to be.

WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?

How often do we feel alone? How often do we feel forsaken? I often look back at my past and wonder, where was He? Truth is, God never left. He was always with me. He was with me every single sentence of that chapter. I was never alone. He was carrying my baggage even when I was way to embarrassed to ask. He has always been there.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Come all who are perfect” or “Come all who’ve made the best choices in life.” Instead, Jesus invites the tired and worn-out to come to Him … and He promises us rest.

That’s an amazing exchange. We get to drop our baggage, and Christ gives us rest. I don’t know how much baggage you’re dragging with you today, but I want you to know you don’t have to carry it for one more minute. Jesus is waiting in the quiet, with arms open wide to receive you. Give Jesus your baggage!

THIS IS MY FAULT.

Some of our baggage comes from something that someone has done to us. It wasn’t our fault at all. But because of what someone did we’re carrying around baggage and it’s weighing us down. It’s like they handed us, or forced a suitcase on us. Now, I need to reiterate, this isn’t/wasn’t your fault, but it’s still baggage that you’re carrying around. You need to acknowledge the truth that you have this baggage.

He wants your baggage…..the old, dusty baggage and the baggage that you are hiding behind the “perfect” persona. But let me be honest, “perfect” is impossible for you and it is time to let that go. In the song “To the Table” by Zach Williams, the words speak out for situations like this. Read them below:

He can see the weight you carry
The fears that hold your heart
But through the cross you’ve been forgiven
You’re accepted as you are

So bring it all to the table
There’s nothing He ain’t seen before
For all your trials, all your worries and your burdens
There’s a Savior and He calls
Bring it all to the table

So bring it all the table. Leave your burdens there for Him. He gave them to you so that you could give them back to him.

I had my youth write their baggage down on a piece of paper and leave it on the table for Jesus to take hold of it. I asked them,

Are you praying about it?

To be honest, if you aren’t praying about it, you apparently believe that you are strong enough to carry it all yourself but you aren’t. Give it all to Jesus and go to that alter. No matter how dusty your baggage is, He is still waiting for you.

what is in a name?

I have recently started one of the “Known by Name” studies that Kasey Van Norman and two other authors had written. When I first started this study, I had NO idea how much I needed every word. There are three studies: Naomi, Rahab, and Hagar. I started with Naomi and how “when I feel worthless, God says I’m enough”.

Being one of my favorite books of the Bible, I have read through Ruth SO many times. But this time, it was different. I always looked at Ruth and her playing the biggest role. However, Naomi also plays a pretty big role. Naomi lost not just her husband, but also both of her sons. She was living in a city that was not her home. She felt alone and worthless. How often do I feel that now?

Let me ask you a personal question. How often do YOU feel like that now?

If you read Ruth 1:19-22, you see where Naomi was so completely distraught and felt so worthless that she even wanted to change her name. Back then, your name was your identity. Your identity was found in your husband and your name. Naomi meant pleasant. But she wanted to change her name to Mara which means bitter. I looked at that for quite some time. Abigail means father’s joy; to give joy. However, lately I have felt more like a Mara than an Abigail.

As a minister’s wife, I know that I am suppose to be one of the most joyful around. But I am human. I have felt a lot like my spiritual growing may be stumped. I have felt like I can not do enough for my husband or family. I have felt, honestly, just alone and drowning. I started to be able to relate to Naomi probably more than I should. I felt her loneliness. I felt her pain. I heard her cries for help. She was alone and hurting.

I have been so bitter. I have turned my anger into an angry heart…a bitter heart. I started causing frustration in my marriage and relationships. I started to lose myself through that bitterness. Through my anger, I did not let myself lament at home. I ran from what God was preparing before me. I am so thankful for a God that never leaves, not forsakes me. I am thankful for a God that forgives.

lament: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

When I say ” lament at home”, I mean the place where you are covered by the most precious hands and love…the church. Let your church in. God created the church for accountability, family, and discipleship. The church is not the building…it is the family of believers that come together. So lean on the church, they are who God put in your path. LAMENT AT HOME.

We should not look at these painful moments as ones that stand in our way or ones that bring us down. In fact, they are the ones that God is using to prepare our hearts of what is to come. Instead of running from God, run to Him. He is standing there with open arms waiting on YOU to quit running. He is bringing you where you need to be. Like Naomi, he brought Ruth and Naomi too Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest (Ruth 1:22). Why is that verse important? Well, why do we have a harvest? Harvest is when we are blessed, God provides. God brought them at the BEGINNING of the harvest…not the middle, not the end, but at the beginning. He showed them even through those time, that HE was still providing and blessing Naomi. Even when Ruth had her son with Boaz…HE. BLESSED. NAOMI.

So remember when I said earlier that I always read Ruth as the main point, then I said that Naomi also played the biggest role. Well, God is the biggest role. He never left them, and prepared their hearts for what was lying ahead. Just like with whatever you are going through, HE will never leave you and HE is preparing you for what lies ahead. He is with you through every step of the loss of family, infertility, loss of your job, health, or anything that is in “the way”.

Do you need prayer? Do you need someone to lament with? I am here for you, sister. Praying for you daily. You are not alone. You are SO loved.