Ok, so I had to go to the store this morning. Bare necessities. Chocolate milk, pull-ups, baby wipes. Ahhhh, coffee creamer, which I forgot. In for a few things, out with much more. Anyone with me here? Arriving home, I find myself carrying every last bag on my arm. For what? One less trip? To hurry life along? My fingers numb, my forearms covered in plastic bag induced slits, my elbows bending backwards from all the weight…

Am I the only one that does this? Am I the only one who longs for someone to meet me at the door with help to carry all this dang junk? That I bought, by the way…

Hmmmmmm. Mind wandered. Those bags. Those bags represent the stuff we carry on our hearts. It gets heavy. A bag for all the times our hearts were broken, a bag for guilt, a bag for sin, a bag full of fears, a bag for grief, a bag for unforgiveness. Our hearts can become full of all that junk, just like the bags from the store. We carry them around, letting them weigh us down. Sometimes feeling as if no one is there to help us carry them. Ahhhh, what about that person who is alone at home and has no one there to take a bag off their arm? Have you ever been that person? Alone, tired, no fire for life, no desire to find that fire, passing through, day to day, checking the box, carrying those plastic bags full of yuck around with you every where you went? Sounds familiar to me. Too familiar. When we rely on ourselves to the point of exhaustion, the point of failure, the point where we find there is nothing left of ourselves to give, we search for deeper. We look for more. We are rock bottom. We are those plastic bags being smothered at the bottom of the recycle bin, looking up, gasping for air, begging for someone to pull us out, take a bag, share the load….

At the end of ourselves, we find something more. We find Him. He can carry all the plastic bags in the world. He can greet us at the door, arms stretched wide, prepared to lighten our load. I believe we all come face to face with the choice of taking His hand or turning away, most likely more than once in our lives. Taking His hand, His love, His forgiveness could be all you need to empty those plastic bags. To clean your heart, start fresh, put out that old fire and start a new one.

A year or so ago I would’ve chuckled at a post like this.

A year or so ago He found me.

He stretched out His arms and let me place my plastic bags on His. He sent me His son to greet me at the door of uncertainty, failure, and weakness. He placed His love on my heart so I could feel it was going to be ok. Know yet feel. My mind would tell me I’m crazy, my heart tells me there’s nothing better than feeling His love. His love for me. His love for us. All of us. All of me. In my faults, my selfishness, my sorrow, my doubt, my yucky self. He still loves me. He still loves you. What a Father, to send His Son, to share our burdens, to share the weight of life, to share a friendship, with anyone who seeks it.

It was all I needed. Life is still bumpy, and my arms are still wore out, but now, now I know I’m not alone, never was, and don’t have to be ever again.

Wow. If you’re wondering what God’s love is like, just ask Him. Pray. He hears you and He’ll show up time and time again…

So the next time you see a plastic bag, think, think of Him. Thank Him. Think of His goodness, His timing, His forgiveness, His unending love. Think, hmmmmm, maybe a bag full of Grace is all I need to see past my mess, into the life He wants me to have. Just a thought. Just a hug. Just Give Grace A Hug!

Ephesians 2:4-5 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—