HEAVY BAGGAGE FROM THE PAST!!

The bible says in 1 Corinthians 10; 13 that God will not place on you more than you can bear. In order words, everything you go through, you are well equipped to come out of it, if you are in line with God.  But the very painful thing about we humans unfortunately is, we take up some personal burdens and baggage’s that God has not placed on us and just go through life suffering in pain and distress. Yes I said it; we take on extra luggage’s of problems, pain, sorrow, anger, strife, malice, jealousy,  envy, hatred, and the list goes on. We keep carrying these heavy loads from the past to present. And for some people into the future if care is not taken.

Now imagine you are going on a very long journey, which is stressful enough on its own, and a very hefty man offers to carry all your luggage’s for you to make the journey comfortable and bearable, but you sternly insist on carrying all the heavy boxes yourself.  Refusing the help would not just slow you down; you will be exhausted and frustrated when you realize the difficulty in carrying these boxes yourself without the help of that man.

This reminds me of high school. I’m sure those of you reading this who attended Gray’s International College Kaduna, would remember the villagers who were always willing to carry your very heavy boxes stuffed with provisions to the front of your hostel, if you were willing to give them 10 -50 Naira then. And there were times I decided to drag my box myself, and it would be so tiring, or id call on a few friends to help to make it easier.  This applies to our relationship with God. He wants to make the burden so light and the journey worthwhile. He says give me the boxes, I am more than capable to carry them, in fact I have paid those boys to carry the boxes for you. I paid with the highest currency so you will not have to pay or carry these boxes alone. But many people are still chief box carriers.

Some people have boxes they have been carrying from the past. They refuse to activate the help God has given freely to all of mankind. You see the most common box we carry is called unforgiveness. A lot of people carry this very heavy box for ages, their backs are sore and wounded from the weight. But they cannot just imagine or find a good reason why they should put the box down. The box contains anger, hatred, revenge, regrets, sorrow and pains.  Prize you say it like forgiveness is easy, well I think it’s a lot easier than carrying such a heavy box of unforgiveness for days, months and even years.  It may be painful getting the box to the floor, but you would breathe a sigh of relief once it’s off your shoulders.

Do you know what he did to us? Do you know how he/she hurt me? Do you know I trusted him/her? I would have never done this to them. He abandoned us, or they do not deserve to be forgiven. Some even say “I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU”, “I WILL NEVER FORGET”, “I WILL NEVER LET THIS GO”. And it’s so amazing and shocking to me. Because although God is willing to forgive us and take the heavy load, he says the price you must pay is to forgive as I have forgiven you. I will forgive you as you forgive others. So many people would be shocked on the last day. They would claim they forgave. God would reply well yes you claimed to. But the Lord’s Prayer you always recited right from childhood stated. “FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US”. Then he will say to mister A, you forgave but never forgot, so I never forgot your own sin, because you refused to forgive completely.  He would say to mister B, you plainly refused to forgive and let it go, so I could not forgive you as well even though I really wanted to.

Many of us have so many boxes we have carried from the past that is hindering us presently and would hinder the future. Why not give up these boxes, refuse the chains of anger, malice and unforgiveness, and be free from it with the power of God. Like  1 Corinthians 10; 13 says, he has allowed that situation because he knows you are well able and capable of forgiving and letting it go. Are you willing to let it go? Forgive even when they have refused to see their fault or apologize. Forgive even if it hurts. You cannot afford to keep carrying heavy boxes at the expense of your life! LEAVE ALL THE BAGGAGE'S IN THE PAST! WITH THE HELP OF GOD, YOU WILL BE FREE FROM THAT BURDEN IN JESUS NAME!!