I NEED A NEW WARDROBE…
… but it’s not my clothes that are the issue.
God has really been convicting me lately that I’m carrying too much. Too many burdens that aren’t mine to carry, that just irritate me… like an overstuffed backpack full of huge rocks that’s awkward and heavy and keeps rubbing me the wrong way.
Sometimes it’s stupid things like, “Do you really NOT know how to use your turn signal?!” or “Do you really need to drive 4 miles an hour UNDER the speed limit in the FAST lane?!” or “Do you SERIOUSLY need to read the ENTIRE McDonalds menu (that hasn’t changed in 15 years!) for 10 minutes before ordering?!!”
Sometimes it’s much bigger things… like organizations claiming to be Christian, but then behaving in very non-Christlike ways, or friends or family members hurting each other, or politics, or economics, or global warming or … well, you get the picture.
Big or small, these are ALL things completely out of MY control. I don’t actually “fret” about these things, but they definitely start to weigh on me… like a backpack full of baby boulders that I don’t even realize I’m carrying but I start getting rubbed raw and irritated by them.
The other bad thing about this is I’m usually NOT quiet about how I feel about these things. (If you know me, you know this is not surprising at all, as I’m not usually quiet about ANYTHING! Ha!) I’m not like a snarling, vicious Rottweiler, I’m more like an annoying little rat-dog with my non-stop yip yip yapping that just won’t shut up.
The other day at church we were singing the worship song, “Great are You, Lord” and there’s a line that repeats, “It’s Your breath in our lungs, so we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise…” While I was singing the Lord gently convicted me.
“It’s MY breath, in your lungs… so instead of all the yip yip yapping you pour out on others, you can use My breath to pour it out to ME. Instead of complaining about things YOU can’t change, give them to ME… because I CAN.” That’s not verbatim, but, pretty close.
James says our tongue is a “restless evil” one minute praising God and the next minute cursing people made in His image.
Yep. That’s me. *sigh*
He wants His breath in my lungs to be poured out to Him, not yip yip yapping at and about others.
Peter says we should “dress ourselves with humility” in how we relate to each other. Clearly, I need a new wardrobe. *deeper sigh* He goes on to say we need to “give all our cares and worries to God because He cares for you.”
God doesn’t care that someone is driving under the speed limit or not using their turn signal or taking too long in the drive thru… He cares that MY heart is having an issue, carrying that unwieldy backpack full of things that aren’t mine to carry. A backpack full of quick judgment and self-righteous pride that’s weighing me down… driving me to my knees. Maybe you’re there, too??
So on my knees, I pray… “Father, I humble myself before You and pray that You would please remove this ugly backpack from me. Please take these burdens that I have no control over… I give them to you. Please help me recognize when I start to take them back, as I am so want to do! And Abba, may Your Spirit change my wardrobe and “dress me in humility” according to Your will.”
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
SCRIPTURES
James 3:8-12 ~ …but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. (ESV)
1 Peter 5:5-7 ~ In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (NASB)