When flying, you have two types of baggage: checked baggage, and carry-on baggage. Each carries a different purpose and as such two different procedures exist for getting them to the traveler's destination. A checked bag exceeds the size and weight restrictions of the carry on and includes anything the flyer doesn't need during their journey. The carry-on includes items the flyer does need for immediate retrieval during the journey and is typically smaller in size. 

Now, I'm not a frequent flyer, but I've flown enough to know how flying works and I can honestly say that I have never stressed about my checked bags getting to my destination once they've been checked. Isn't that so interesting? We have such a great amount of trust that the bag is going to get to our destination intact when we don't see where it goes after we hand it to the clerk. We are able to trust that the process is sound enough to get our valuable items to our destination without our actually carrying it with us.

What if we started doing this with God? What if we packed up all of our hopes and dreams and things we are praying for into a big suitcase, zipped it tight, and checked it in with God? Can't we trust that it will get to our destination safe and sound?

You see, there are certain things that we need immediately available in the "carry-on baggage" of our spiritual flight from one season to the next, but then there are other things that while definitely important and valuable in the grand scheme of things, are not needed immediately.

There are certain promises in my life that God has shared with me that I haven't seen come to pass yet. It's been very painful and very frustrating to be in this waiting process for such a long time. I also have a control issue, and as such I have trouble giving up things that are valuable to me. Recently, I've been feeling like I need to release control to God, but I can't figure out where the balance is with these very real promises and desires I have in my heart. This is because I typically tend to either give up or hold on too tightly. I've tried it both ways and both ways don't work, so I realized that there has to be some middle ground here, but have struggled to figure out what that actually is and what it looks like. 

I realized that relinquishing control of my deepest God-given desires to God doesn't make them any less mine just as checking baggage with airport staff doesn't make the contents in my suitcase any less mine. God gave me these hopes and dreams and He doesn't want me to trash them, He just wants me to trust them with Him! It also doesn't mean they aren't important. In fact, usually much of what we pack in our checked baggage is actually crucial to our life-long journey, but while we are getting from one season to another, we don't need it. And if we were to try to carry our large checked bags on the plane with us, our journey would be that much more difficult not only for us, but for everyone else on that flight with us. 

I'm challenging myself (and hopefully you will join me on this challenge as well) to start intentionally choosing to think of giving things over to God not as defeat, but rather as giving it to Him for safekeeping so our journey is that much more effective. I think we will be surprised to see that when we claim our baggage at the end of our metaphorical flight, with God, everything will be intact and will probably include more than we expected.