Max Lucado - Traveling Light for Mothers

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TRAVELING LIGHT
FOR MOTHERS

Max Lucado

TRAVELING LIGHT FOR MOMS

Copyright 2002 Max Lucado. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by W Publishing Group, a unit of Thomas Nelson, Inc., P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee 37214.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from the Holy Bible, New Century Version, copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by W Publishing Group, Nashville, Tennessee 37214. Used by permission.

Other Scripture references are from the following sources:

The Living Bible (TLB), copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois. Used by permission.

The Message (MSG), copyright 1993. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

The New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

The Jerusalem Bible (JB), copyright 1968 by Darton, Longman, & Todd, Ltd., and Doubleday & Co., Inc.

The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

The New English Bible (NEB), copyright 1961, 1970 by the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permission.

The Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois. All rights reserved.

ISBN 0-8499-9048-3

ISBN 0-8499-4410-4

Printed in the United States of America

02 03 04 05 06 PHX 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my three nieces
Dana, Michelle, and Allison.
May God bless your mothering.

CONTENTS

2. ILL DO IT MY WAY
The Burden of Self-Reliance

3. THE PRISON OF WANT
The Burden of Discontent

4. I WILL GIVE YOU REST
The Burden of Weariness

5. WHADDIFS AND HOWELLS
The Burden of Worry

6. ITS A JUNGLE OUT THERE
The Burden of Hopelessness

7. A HEAVENLY EXCHANGE
The Burden of Guilt

Come to me, all of you
who are weary and
carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.

MATTHEW 11:28 NLT

one
MOMS PURSE

Ive never ceased to be amazed at what a mom can find in her purse. Theres the typical stuff, like a tissue for a stuffy nose, a quarter for the gumball machine, a library card to check out a book. But then theres the incredible stuff, like a blowup beachball, a map of the entire United States, a collection of medicine that could cure any illness!

I guess moms learn early that they have to be prepared. It all starts with that diaper bag that has zippers galore and compartments begging to be filled so that no mother need be caught unprepared when spit-up (or a more unpleasant discharge) ruins the outfit and threatens to ruin the outing. From then on, moms seem to know how to pack backpacks for school, gym bags for games, footlockers for camp with anything and everything that might be needed.

Now, Ive never carried a purse, but Ive never been one to travel light.

Ive tried. Believe me, Ive tried. But ever since I stuck three fingers in the air and took the Boy Scout pledge to be prepared, Ive been determined to be exactly thatprepared.

Prepared for a bar mitzvah, baby dedication, or costume party. Prepared to parachute behind enemy lines or enter a cricket tournament. And if, perchance, the Dalai Lama might be on my flight and invite me to dine in Tibet, I carry snowshoes. One has to be prepared.

I dont know how to travel without granola bars, sodas, and rain gear. I dont know how to travel without flashlights and a generator and a global tracking system. I dont know how to travel without an ice chest of wieners. What if I stumble upon a backyard barbecue? To bring nothing to the party would be rude.

I dont know how to travel light. But I need to learn.

I need to learn to travel light.

Youre wondering why I cant. Loosen up! youre thinking. You cant enjoy a journey carrying so much stuff. Why dont you just drop all that luggage?

Funny you should ask. Id like to inquire the same of you. Havent you been known to pack your bag with some unnecessary items?

Unload all your
worries on to him,
since he is looking
after you.

1 PETER 5:7 JB

Odds are, you did this morning. Somewhere between the first step on the floor and the last step out the door, you stuffed your bag full. It wasnt a bag made of leather, but the one in the mind. And you didnt fill it with books or Band-Aids or Binaca, you filled it with burdens. The kind of burdens that moms carry.

The suitcase of guilt. A sack of discontent. You drape a duffel bag of weariness on one shoulder and a hanging bag of worry on the other. No wonder youre so tired at the end of the day. Toting those kinds of bags is exhausting.

What you were saying to me, God is saying to you, Set that stuff down! Youre carrying burdens you dont need to bear.

Come to me, he invites, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28 NLT).

If we let him, God will lighten our loads... but how do we let him? May I invite an old friend to show us? The first few verses of the Twenty-third Psalm.

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His names sake. (NKJV)

Have you been packing your purse with some burdens of your own? Do you think God might use Davids psalm to lighten your load? Traveling light means trusting God with the burdens you were never intended to bear.

Why dont you try traveling light? Try it for the sake of those you love. Have you ever considered the impact that excess baggage has on relationships? Weve made this point at our church by virtue of a drama. A wedding is reenacted in which we hear the thoughts of the bride and groom. The groom enters, laden with luggage. A bag dangles from every appendage. And each bag is labeled: guilt, anger, arrogance, insecurities. This fellow is loaded. As he stands on the altar, the audience hears him thinking, Finally, a woman who will help me carry all my burdens. Shes so strong, so stable, so...

As his thoughts continue, hers begin. She enters, wearing a wedding gown but, like her fianc, covered with luggage. Pulling a hanging bag, shouldering a carry-on, hauling a makeup kit, a paper sackeverything you could imagine and everything labeled. She has her own bags: prejudice, loneliness, disappointments. And her expectations? Listen to what she is thinking: Just a few more minutes and Ive got me a man. No more counselors. No more group sessions. So long, discouragement and worry. I wont be seeing you anymore. Hes going to fix me.

Finally they stand at the altar, lost in a mountain of luggage. They smile their way through the ceremony, but when given the invitation to kiss each other, they cant. How do you embrace someone if your arms are full of bags?