Lay it all out

On Tuesday I had the humbling honor of accepting an Award for Excellence in Indianapolis.  An award that I will never feel like I deserved, and rightly so, because it's not all about me.  ;)   The Lord put so many people in my path over the years to encourage me, push me, and pray for me.  Anyway, Award - Indy - Statehouse.  We're here.  

I laid my purse on a conveyor belt and gingerly stepped through the security arch, BEEEPPPP.  Next I was asked to hold my arms out and be "wand-ed".  Hmmm, no beeps?  So, "Can you pull up your pant legs past your socks?"  You bet I can!!!  Oh wait, you mean you're not testing my flexibility?  You're checking for weapons strapped onto my ankles?  

• pant legs up: check
•  weapon free: check
•  bristly legs: check

The grand finale.  They saw a pair of scissors in my purse!  The only problem was....there were no scissors in my purse.  I'm sure no one EVER lies, right?  The final whoo-ha was unloading my purse on a table.

Now I knew I didn't have scissors.  But I knew I still had remnants of Florida, yes, I got back 3 weeks ago, so what.  Maybe I could be chosen for a special edition of "Hoarders: Purse Purging", who knows?  

 I  had a handful of pens, ticket stubs, park maps, 2 sets of ear buds, 2 chargers (one for the car, which does me no good in my purse?), gum, a box of mints from the Pensacola hotel that had dumped into the bottom, along with about 8.63 in change, receipts, receipts, and yes, some more receipts.  And that was basically the first handful I extracted!

Alas, as I already knew, no scissors.  The TSA officer kept apologizing for the inconvenience he had put me through.  But I assured him I would ALWAYS choose to be safe than sorry.

Now for what the Holy Spirit showed me through all that:  What if I had to lay my life out in front of people the way I had to lay out the entire contents of my purse?  Not just the lip balm and cell phone, but all the gum and candy wrappers and Midol.  What if I had to dig down in the depths of me and lay it all out?  Would I be embarrassed or humiliated?  Are there things that I thought I'd gotten rid of a long time ago that I'm still carrying around?  Would I have wanted Jesus to be the TSA officer and have to inspect it all?  The answers to all the above is yes, yes, and no.

But then I realized that He knows anyway.  He still loves me, but for Pete's sake, He wants the best for me!

  

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

I encourage you to unload your purse and unload your life.  You'll need a trash can for the first, and you'll need to spend some time with Jesus for the second.  :)