Pack Light: Another Perspective

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As a child, I had a lot of responsibility on me that I probably should not have had. I had to be responsible and bear the burden of adult issues. As a result, I learned early that my emotions had to take the back seat because it required a great deal of focus and strength to maintain my sanity. I had to be able to remain calm in stressful situations. I could not speak up because it would be considered a threat or disrespect. I had to learn to accept being lied on because I didn’t have a say so in the matter. As soon as I got older and gained my freedom, my heart became set on always speaking up for myself and not allowing myself to be in vulnerable situations. Unfortunately, alot more came along with and adhered to that vow. It affected my ability to connect and relate to others. A wall came up. I was the overseer of that wall. I was responsible for who gained access to what was beyond the wall.

While protecting the wall, I gathered tools to guard myself against anything or anyone who could hurt me. Tools shaped by generational curses, hurts, disappointments, and broken relationships. It took some years for me to realize what I had been carrying. When I think about the song “Bag Lady” by Erykah Badu, I can relate on so many levels. In verse one, she sings, “Bag lady, you gone hurt your back. Dragging all them bags like that. I guess nobody ever told you. All you must hold onto, is you, is you, is you.”

In the second verse, she continues,” One day all them bags gon’ get in your way, so pack light”. What were the “bags” she was referring to? I believe the “bags” were the things she had picked up along the way. Some of the same things I had picked up. I didn’t realize that what I thought was my arsenal of protection ended up being a summation of burdens. They had become my “bags” or what Paul refers to as “weights” in Hebrews 12:1. 

Hebrews 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily. 

Anything that slows us down or hinders us from moving forward into all that God has for us is a stronghold. Erykah Badu knew the effect those bags had. This is evident when she says “you gon’ hurt your back, all those bags gon’ get in your way”. The burdens that we have can manifest themselves as physical illness and also affect our health. Carrying things we were not meant to carry will eventually slow us down. The song says continues, “You gon’ miss your bus. You can’t hurry up. You got too much stuff.” Being weighed down by things that are unlike God may keep us from reaching our full potential and receiving all God has for us. Such hindrances may take our eyes off of Jesus and bring our focus inward instead of upward. They can even impair our judgment and ability to love others out of fear of being rejected. I had developed all of those things and I knew that I had to be honest about them. I had to own them to overcome them. I realized that the only way I could overcome them was by allowing the Holy Spirit to inspect my “bags” and search my heart. I had to be brave enough to hand those bags over. Once I got my healing and freedom, I had to be courageous enough to leave those things behind and press forward. That required me to repenting and being honest about the sin that had occurred in my life because of those bags and weights.

It is interesting how we can find comfort in our dysfunction if we aren’t careful. I’m reminding of Linus on Charlie Brown and his blanket. He took that blanket everywhere he went. He found security and comfort in that blanket. Likewise, we tend to do the same with those things in our life that are unlike Christ when we fail to allow the Holy Spirit to have its way. Our perspective is so very limited. That is why we need His spirit. 

1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH …”

We need His Spirit to shine the light on our brokenness and restore us to wholeness. We need His spirit to bring us back into the right relationship with Him and others. We need His word and His spirit to serve as a gauge for our growth and a guide for our path. We need His spirit to break the chains that bind us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We need His spirit so we can “Pack Light” and be free to be who He has called us to be.

Dear Friends, what is in your bags? What have you allowed to become a crutch in your life and hinder you from moving forward to your healing? What dysfunction have you allowed to settle in and cause you to sin? Galatians 5:7 (TPT) says, Before you were led astray, you were so faithful to Messiah. Why have you now turned away from what is right and true? Who has deceived you?” Good question. We should all ask ourselves if we are all in when it to following Christ. If not, what’s the problem? Is it physical, mental, or spiritual?

At the end of the song, she sings “Sometimes it’s hard and we can’t let go.” Then, she says, “Let it go, let it go, let it go”. That is what the Father is saying. The Father is talking and He wants His children to listen. We can’t listen if we don’t lay aside all the distractions. He wants us to pack light and be free in our minds, bodies, and spirits. Only a good father desires the best for His children.

Pack Light.

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