Thursday, March 1, 2007
It's one of life's great acts of faith - checking your suitcase with an airline. You see, I fly a lot commercially, and most of my bags get where I'm going most of the time - but most, not all. Not long ago, my suitcase decided to stay in Chicago when I went to Toronto. That began a several-hour ordeal of making the rounds at the airport, trying to locate my bag.
I had carried on to the plane this very heavy, over-the-shoulder briefcase, and basically I had my office in it. My hosts in Toronto had sent a great young man named Jason to pick me up, and he was a real help. At one point, when I was waiting a long time for an agent, Jason just stood there with my heavy briefcase on his shoulder. He was slowly getting shorter as he stood there, actually. Now, we weren't going anywhere; he could have just set it down. So, I asked him a simple question, "Why are you carrying that?" He smiled sheepishly and said, "I have no idea" and promptly set it down. He felt much better.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Are You Carrying That?"
My young friend was carrying a burden that he didn't have to carry. You may be making that very same mistake with a burden that's been weighing you down.
There's a wonderful invitation in our word for today from the Word of God that may have your name all over it. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." In light of this offer - this promise - I wonder if God is asking you today, "Why are you carrying that?"
You may say, "Well, I've talked to God about what's weighing me down." That doesn't necessarily mean you've cast those cares on Him. I can go to the mechanic with my car and tell him all about what's wrong with the brakes or the steering or the problems we're having starting the car. But it won't do any good if I just drive away with the car after I've told him all my concerns. It's not enough to just tell him about the car. Nothing's going to happen until I leave it with him.
Now, you may be telling God about the weight you're carrying, about how heavy it is, about what you'd like Him to do about it. But that doesn't mean you're leaving it with Him; casting those cares on Him. Picture yourself walking into God's Throne Room, all bent over, carrying that person or that situation or that need on your back. Now picture yourself leaving God's Throne Room after you've prayed about it. Are you still all bent over, or did you leave that burden in the hands of Almighty God? If so, you'll leave His Throne Room walking tall.
It's God's burden now. You've surrendered trying to be the fixer, the solver, the figure-outer, the controller. You've decided to live the truth of that promise that is repeated several times in Scripture, "The battle is the Lord's." It may have been yours when you entered His presence, but not any more. It's His battle now.
The old hymn is so insightful when it says, "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." Needless pain. Needless worry. Needless emotional weight. Philippians 4:6-7 says that when you give your anxieties to God, you trade stress for "the peace of God which transcends all understanding." Psalm 55 says that when you let God carry it, He will sustain you; He will keep you from falling. So there you are all burdened down, stressed, discouraged. And your Lord has just one question for you, "Why are you carrying that?"