All of us drag or carry around invisible boxes stuffed full with memories. For some it might look like a backpack or a carry-on bag, but for others it’s a Pullman suitcase or a steamer trunk. Our stuff is stored in these emotional boxes. There are good things there—our accomplishments, successes, victories, and achievements. There are memories of the perfect day when everything went right and the decisions we made were spot on.
But deep down inside that same baggage, crammed into the hidden pockets or jammed as deep as we can push are some things that are not so good. We all have a past. We’ve all failed, sinned, made terrible choices, been hurt, wounded, abused, shamed and/or ridiculed.
All those moments, experiences, and events (both good and bad) are imprinted on our souls, whether we can call up the details or not. If it happens to be an emotional wound or hurt and it has not been healed, it is as raw and real as the day it happened even if it occurred years ago. Time does not heal all hurts—that’s a lie the devil perpetrated to keep us wounded and bleeding. It’s what we do with the time that matters.
These unhealed pockets from the past break hearts, imprison us in the enemy’s jail, and create countless types of bondage. They affect us at many different levels, especially on the spiritual level in our ability to respond to God’s unconditional love. The very thing we need to heal is the thing that frightens us the most due to our bad experiences from the past. It becomes junk in our trunk that slows us down and leaves us emotionally stranded and shipwrecked on our journey through life.
This is the unnecessary baggage we drag around everywhere we go and into everything we do. It creates all kinds of boxes with stuff that most would rather not deal with. Just the thought of facing some of those ghosts from the past feels us with terror. So we paint a smiley face on our box of pain and stuff it farther down. But—behind the smiley face is a hurting person…a helpless person—perhaps even a hopeless person.
These are the boxes Jesus came to destroy. Has your bag become too heavy to drag around? Perhaps the latches and zippers find it hard to keep all the stuff in and the pain is spilling over the sides? Are you willing to unpack your bag, clean out those hidden pockets, and offer Jesus your pain in return for his peace and love? God the Father has already placed the junk in your trunk on the shoulders of Jesus as he hung on the cross. Perhaps the time has come for you to leave that invisible baggage where it belongs—with Jesus.
photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/masochismtango/2186726069/”>masochismtango</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/”>cc</a>