Your Burdens in a Backpack

So, I am still waiting on my BFF Lysa to let me know where I need to be to 'open' for her (see previous post). My friend Kellie from this post, got the call from Korea to go and pick up her sweet baby girl, who is also named after me. Well, maybe not deliberately named after me, but we will have the same name, so there's no harm in me calling her my namesake, right? Right.....moving right along. Tonight was the last night of our "Breaking Free" class and in typical Baptist style, we brought food. I mean what kind of gathering would it be without some dips, desserts and other delicious and fattening fare? Call me crazy, (I am sure you have before) but I always feel like it's best to end on a sweet note, so all my Bible studies end with a buffet. After all, what could be better than listening to Beth Moore over some brownies and chicken salad?



In my last post, I mentioned that I would be posting on the subject of people who wear their burdens like clothing. I know that sounds like a strange subject, but let's see if you recognize the woman I am talking about..........I would like you to meet my friend, Rainey..........



Let me set the scene: The alarm sounds. It is 6:30 am on a Monday morning. The sun is shining outside, but inside Rainey's house there is a thick black cloud that hangs over her head.



Rainey sits up in her bed: "Ugh. Another nasty Monday morning. My life would almost be bearable if I didn't have to get up and go to my dead-end job everyday. Lord, why must everything be so difficult for me. Everyone else has it so easy - nobody knows the troubles I've seen. My own kids can't stand me. My husband left me. I have no real friends. Every bone in my body aches, in fact, people keep telling me they are tired of hearing me complain about my health. I am only 35, but I feel like I am 75. If they only knew how tired I am, they would sympathize. I work like a dog, but I don't even make enough to buy anything extra. I am sick of seeing everyone else get new cars and houses while I sit here in this 2 bedroom apartment. I guess I better get out of this bed and get this dreadful day started".



As she slides her feet off her bed, she reaches over and picks up her Burden Backpack. She carries it everywhere she goes. It weighs a ton, but she just cant make herself leave home without it. As she sits there, she opens her backpack and fills it with all her burdens: guilt, shame, hatred, jealousy, anger, and all sorts of other things she would be terrified to leave at home. She slips first one arm in and then the other. Time to stand up and get moving. The problem is that the backpack is so full and so heavy, it makes her stoop over and she can hardly walk.



Do you recognize Rainey? Do you know someone just like her? I do. I know plenty of them. You know the ones I am talking about. The people who claim to be Christians, but carry around a load of burdens, shame and condemnation that even the strongest man couldn't bear. These are the people who when asked "how are you doing?" - they tell you exactly how they are doing and I mean EVERYTHING!



Don't we all have "Rainey" days? There is a little "Rainey" in all of us at times. We are saved, but we act like we are dead women walking. We want sympathy. We want someone to say "It's going to be okay" or "You are doing a good job". We want a pat on the back. We want it to be all about "ME".



But, it's not about me and it's not about you either. It's about bringing glory to God and we cannot bring glory to God when we are trudging around beneath the load of the backpacks we have filled with all our problems. We can't bring glory to God with the "If only..." attitude (if only my husband understood me, if only my kids behaved better...). We aren't glorifying God when we are complaining about the place He has chosen for us. We can't glorify when we are wallowing in self pity. We can't glorify God when we are glorifying and magnifying our problems.



Part of bringing glory to God is letting people see Him in you so that they want what you have. If you are stooped over under a load of guilt or self-pity, NO ONE is going to want what you have (they are going to want to stay far away from what you have for fear that what you have is catching). It is never God's intention for any of His children to live in 'perpetual pity-party mode' - He sent Jesus to die so we wouldn't have to. We are victorious over death -satan is a defeated foe. If you are saved, then you have hope and a future - it might be time to start acting like it. The Bible says His banner over us is love.......what does the banner over you say?