I don’t need to carry my suitcase. . .

A traveler in an airport takes one of those long moving sidewalks that hastens the journey from one end of the terminal to another. As the sidewalk whisks him along, his heavy suitcase remains slung over one shoulder, tilting his body sideways.

This image came to mind this morning as I read about casting my cares on God. A couple of passages also come to mind. The first one is Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Curious, I once checked out the words in this passage, particularly “burden” and found out that the first one, the one that makes us weary, is the Greek word for a heavy shipment. In contrast, the second ‘burden’ that Jesus offers us to share with Him is the Greek word for the paper invoice on the shipment!

My devotional book writes that Christians often bring their cares to God, but instead of leaving them with Him, we pick them up again as we go on our way. Like the traveler in the airport, we don’t seem to realize that we have a resource who will carry our load for us.

Trusting God is more than words. To really do it, I have to know that He will do as He says. How do I learn that? Part of it is from reading the Bible and checking out His past history. Part of it is from my own history with Him. He has never failed me. Yet each time I have a burden, I also tend to jump on the moving sidewalk of giving it to God, yet wind up carrying it myself.

I have to be honest. This is a choice. When I do it, I may not be trusting myself because if I thought I could handle it, I would not be so burdened by the thing, but I’m certainly not trusting God. I might say I am, but I’m still carrying that dratted suitcase.

I’ve learned that it helps to confess my pride and failure to trust Him—because this is what is wrong and both are sinful. Besides that, these two are burdens enough in themselves. I don’t need to carry them either. Jesus took all my sin at the cross and bore my guilt and shame. How foolish to take them back!

The other thing that helps me put down my load is prayer, not just the prayer that basically asks Him to fix it, but the prayer described in Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

God says when things get too heavy for me, I need to pray and ask Him to deal with those things, but I also need to do it with thanksgiving. This is key. Thanksgiving acknowledges the goodness and power of God. It is an admission of a kind that tells Him He is able and worthy to carry my suitcase. After speaking words like that to Him, I can easily sense how silly it is, and how much I am insulting Him if I hang on to that heavy thing myself.

I’m in Canmore today at a conference. The Rocky mountains loom large outside our window. The attendees are enthusiastic and easy to talk to, and I’m looking forward to what I will learn. At the same time, the issues and questions of life, concerns for my family, and burdens for others in need lurk in the back of my mind and threaten to weigh me down. I’m tempted to skip prayer time and go right into conference time, but God is telling me that even though I can get on that moving sidewalk, I’ll feel much lighter at the end of it if I will take the time to put my suitcase down and let Him carry it.