"Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22
Having done a little traveling internationally, I can tell you baggage is the worst thing to deal with. Several years ago, I was on a trip with a church group heading to Africa. We were in London's Heathrow airport awaiting our connecting flight. We had been told a gate number, but it was not showing on the departure board. Several of the guys in our group wanted to go check out the shops, and get something to eat, leaving two of us to sit with the carry-on luggage and drink our coffee.
Time passed, and glancing up at the departure board it showed our connection at a totally different gate. In fact, the new gate was quite a hike and none of the guys who had left their carry on luggage had returned. We waited patiently for some time, but when one of the airport terminal workers told us how far the gate was from where we were sitting at the time, we decided to take action. The two of us gathered up all of the carry-on luggage and started toward the gate. It was unbelievable how far that gate was that day and how heavy and awkward all of the carry-on luggage was to move.
Some of the carry-on luggage were backpacks, some had wheels to roll, others just a single shoulder strap, but all of them were together became a huge burden. At this time I should mention that the other guy helping me was handicapped--he only had one leg. Now for a one legged man he really could out hustle most of us, but on this particular day he was having issues with his leg and it was hard enough for him to walk all of the way to the gate. I really was concerned about making it to the gate on time, and several times I thought about ditching the extra bags.
About half-way to our gate, a guy in a large cart headed in the same direction stopped and took us the rest of the way. What a huge relief! When I read David's statement in Psalm 55 for us to cast our burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain us, I can't help but think about this airport experience. I am not sure if we would have made it on time or not that day, or if all of my traveling companions would have gotten their carry-on luggage if they cart driver hadn't helped, but what I do know is that a huge burden was lifted off of us physically that day.
God in a much greater way wants to lift our burdens and sustain us. The problem in my life is that I like to struggle. In fact I have struggled for so long that it is comfortable. As a small child I had a "Dapper Dan" toy that was my favorite. He was a toddler training toy that had all types of snaps, buttons, zippers, and shoe laces to learn how to tie and operate, but to me he was much more. He was my version of a security blanket. I carried him with me everywhere I went. Though my mom would sneak him away from me at times to wash him, I never let him get too far from me. He was my comfort. As I grew older, Dapper Dan grew dirtier, but I never seem to mind because I was comfortable with him. Then it happened. I went to kindergarten and came home to find Dapper Dan AWOL. I searched frantically for him, but couldn't find him. Then the truth was revealed. My mom had decided that Dapper Dan had to go, so while I went to school she removed my first best friend from my life.
I lamented for quite some time over the absence of Dan, though everyone else around me cheered in his demise. What I had failed to notice, that everyone else did notice was that Dapper Dan, over the years of being tossed around, cuddled with, sneezed on, drooled on, and whatever else a toddler does, had picked up a strange odor. As a child I had grown comfortable with the smell, but it was very offensive and noticeable to everyone else around me. Sin is like this in our lives and we long for and reminisce over the "good old times" or as the Bible puts it, the "pleasures of sin." In reality though, sin just reeks in our lives, and really is burdensome.
As a toddler who had lost his best friend and comforting nap pillow, I couldn't begin to understand how I could bear to make it another day without my Dapper Dan. David gives the answer in the Psalms when he testifies that the Lord will sustain us. It is so hard when we get rid of the burdens many of us have grown comfortable with to fathom how life will be and how we will make it through, but David assures us that when we learn to cast our burdens on the Lord that He will not just be there for us and encourage us, but He will sustain us. Life doesn't end when you lose your Dapper Dan! Thank God for His sustaining power to free us from the self-imposed burdens of our lives.
Having done a little traveling internationally, I can tell you baggage is the worst thing to deal with. Several years ago, I was on a trip with a church group heading to Africa. We were in London's Heathrow airport awaiting our connecting flight. We had been told a gate number, but it was not showing on the departure board. Several of the guys in our group wanted to go check out the shops, and get something to eat, leaving two of us to sit with the carry-on luggage and drink our coffee.
Time passed, and glancing up at the departure board it showed our connection at a totally different gate. In fact, the new gate was quite a hike and none of the guys who had left their carry on luggage had returned. We waited patiently for some time, but when one of the airport terminal workers told us how far the gate was from where we were sitting at the time, we decided to take action. The two of us gathered up all of the carry-on luggage and started toward the gate. It was unbelievable how far that gate was that day and how heavy and awkward all of the carry-on luggage was to move.
Some of the carry-on luggage were backpacks, some had wheels to roll, others just a single shoulder strap, but all of them were together became a huge burden. At this time I should mention that the other guy helping me was handicapped--he only had one leg. Now for a one legged man he really could out hustle most of us, but on this particular day he was having issues with his leg and it was hard enough for him to walk all of the way to the gate. I really was concerned about making it to the gate on time, and several times I thought about ditching the extra bags.
About half-way to our gate, a guy in a large cart headed in the same direction stopped and took us the rest of the way. What a huge relief! When I read David's statement in Psalm 55 for us to cast our burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain us, I can't help but think about this airport experience. I am not sure if we would have made it on time or not that day, or if all of my traveling companions would have gotten their carry-on luggage if they cart driver hadn't helped, but what I do know is that a huge burden was lifted off of us physically that day.
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| Dapper Dan |
I lamented for quite some time over the absence of Dan, though everyone else around me cheered in his demise. What I had failed to notice, that everyone else did notice was that Dapper Dan, over the years of being tossed around, cuddled with, sneezed on, drooled on, and whatever else a toddler does, had picked up a strange odor. As a child I had grown comfortable with the smell, but it was very offensive and noticeable to everyone else around me. Sin is like this in our lives and we long for and reminisce over the "good old times" or as the Bible puts it, the "pleasures of sin." In reality though, sin just reeks in our lives, and really is burdensome.
As a toddler who had lost his best friend and comforting nap pillow, I couldn't begin to understand how I could bear to make it another day without my Dapper Dan. David gives the answer in the Psalms when he testifies that the Lord will sustain us. It is so hard when we get rid of the burdens many of us have grown comfortable with to fathom how life will be and how we will make it through, but David assures us that when we learn to cast our burdens on the Lord that He will not just be there for us and encourage us, but He will sustain us. Life doesn't end when you lose your Dapper Dan! Thank God for His sustaining power to free us from the self-imposed burdens of our lives.
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