Traveling Light

W Publishing Group

Chapter One

I've never been one to travel light.

I've tried. Believe me, I've tried. But ever since I stuck threefingers in the air and took the Boy Scout pledge to be prepared, I'vebeen determined to be exactly that-prepared.

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 andinvite me to dine in Tibet, I carry snowshoes. One has to be prepared.

I don't know how to travel light.

Fact is, there's a lot about travel I don't know. I don't know how tointerpret the restrictions of a supersaver seat-half price if you leave onWednesdays during duck-hunting season and return when the moon is full ina nonelection year. I don't know why they don't build the whole planeout of the same metal they use to build the little black box. I don'tknow how to escape the airplane toilet without sacrificing one of myextremities to the jaws of the folding door. And I don't know what tosay to guys like the taxi driver in Rio who learned I was an Americanand asked me if I knew his cousin Eddie who lives in the U.S.

There's a lot about traveling I don't know.

I don't know why we men would rather floss a crocodile than askfor directions. I don't know why vacation slides aren't used to treatinsomnia, and I don't know when I'll learn not to eat food whosenames I can't pronounce.

But most of all, I don't know how to travel light.

I don't know how to travel without granola bars, sodas, and raingear. I don't know how to travel without flashlights and a generatorand a global tracking system. I don't know how to travel without anice chest of wieners. What if I stumble upon a backyard barbecue? Tobring nothing to the party would be rude.

Every travel-catalog company in the world has my credit-cardnumber. I've got an iron that doubles as a paperweight, a hair dryerthe size of a coach's whistle, a Swiss Army knife that expands into apup tent, and a pair of pants that inflate upon impact. (On one flightmy wife, Denalyn, gave me a swat on the leg, and I couldn't get outof my seat.)

I don't know how to travel light. But I need to learn. Denalynrefuses to give birth to any more children even though the airlinesallow each passenger three checked bags and two carry-ons.

I need to learn to travel light.

You're wondering why I can't. Loosen up! you're thinking. You can'tenjoy a journey carrying so much stuff. Why don't you just drop all that luggage?

Funny you should ask. I'd like to inquire the same of you. Haven'tyou been known to pick up a few bags?

Odds are, you did this morning. Somewhere between the first stepon the floor and the last step out the door, you grabbed some luggage.You stepped over to the baggage carousel and loaded up. Don'tremember doing so? That's because you did it without thinking. Don'tremember seeing a baggage terminal? That's because the carousel isnot the one in the airport; it's the one in the mind. And the bags wegrab are not made of leather; they're made of burdens.

The suitcase of guilt. A sack of discontent. You drape a duffel bag ofweariness on one shoulder and a hanging bag of grief on the other.Add on a backpack of doubt, an overnight bag of loneliness, and atrunk of fear. Pretty soon you're pulling more stuff than a skycap. Nowonder you're so tired at the end of the day. Lugging luggage isexhausting.

What you were saying to me, God is saying to you, "Set that stuffdown! You're carrying burdens you don't need to bear."

"Come to me," he invites, "all of you who are weary and carryheavy 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 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 name's sake.

You, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. (NKJV)

Do more beloved words exist? Framed and hung in hospital halls,scratched on prison walls, quoted by the young, and whispered by thedying. In these lines sailors have found a harbor, the frightened havefound a father, and strugglers have found a friend.

And because the passage is so deeply loved, it is widely known. Canyou find ears on which these words have never fallen? Set to music ina hundred songs, translated into a thousand tongues, domiciled in amillion hearts.

One of those hearts might be yours. What kinship do you feel withthese words? Where do the verses transport you? To a fireside?Bedside? Graveside?

Hardly a week passes that I don't turn to them. This passage is tothe minister what balm is to the physician. I recently applied them tothe heart of a dear friend. Summoned to his house with the words"The doctors aren't giving him more than a few days," I looked at himand understood. Face pale. Lips stretched and parched. Skin drapingbetween bones like old umbrella cloth between spokes. The cancerhad taken so much: his appetite, his strength, his days. But the cancerhadn't touched his faith. Pulling a chair to his bed and squeezing hishand, I whispered, "Bill, `The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.'"He rolled his head toward me as if to welcome the words.

"He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me besidethe still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousnessfor His name's sake."

Reaching the fourth verse, fearful that he might not hear, I leanedforward until I was a couple of inches from his ear and said,"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I willfear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfortme."

He didn't open his eyes, but he arched his brows. He didn't speak,but his thin fingers curled around mine, and I wondered if the Lordwas helping him set down some luggage, the fear of dying.

Do you have some luggage of your own? Do you think God mightuse David's psalm to lighten your load? Traveling light means trustingGod with the burdens you were never intended to bear.

Why don't you try traveling light? Try it for the sake of those youlove. Have you ever considered the impact that excess baggage has onrelationships? We've made this point at our church by virtue of adrama. A wedding is reenacted in which we hear the thoughts of thebride and groom. The groom enters, laden with luggage. A bag danglesfrom every appendage. And each bag is labeled: guilt, anger, arrogance,insecurities. This fellow is loaded. As he stands at the altar, the audiencehears him thinking, Finally, a woman who will help me carry all my burdens.She's so strong, so stable, so ...

As his thoughts continue, hers begin. She enters, wearing a weddinggown but, like her fianci, covered with luggage. Pulling a hanging bag,shouldering a carry-on, hauling a makeup kit, paper sack-everythingyou could imagine and everything labeled. She has her own bags:prejudice, loneliness, disappointments. And her expectations? Listen towhat she is thinking: Just a few more minutes and I've got me a man. Nomore counselors. No more group sessions. So long, discouragement and worry.I won't be seeing you anymore. He's going to fix me.

Finally they stand at the altar, lost in a mountain of luggage. Theysmile their way through the ceremony, but when given the invitationto kiss each other, they can't. How do you embrace someone if yourarms are full of bags?

For the sake of those you love, learn to set them down.

And, for the sake of the God you serve, do the same. He wants touse you, you know. But how can he if you are exhausted? This truthcame home to me yesterday afternoon on a run. Preparing for a jog, Icouldn't decide what to wear. The sun was out, but the wind waschilly. The sky was clear, but the forecast said rain. Jacket or sweatshirt?The Boy Scout within me prevailed. I wore both.

I grabbed my Walkman but couldn't decide which tape to bring. Asermon or music? You guessed it, I took both. Needing to stay in touchwith my kids, I carried a cell phone. So no one would steal my car, Ipocketed my keys. As a precaution against thirst, I brought along somedrink money in a pouch. I looked more like a pack mule than a runner!Within half a mile I was peeling off the jacket and hiding it in a bush.That kind of weight will slow you down.

What's true in jogging is true in faith. God has a great race for youto run. Under his care you will go where you've never been and servein ways you've never dreamed. But you have to drop some stuff. Howcan you share grace if you are full of guilt? How can you offer comfortif you are disheartened? How can you lift someone else's load if yourarms are full with your own?

For the sake of those you love, travel light.

For the sake of the God you serve, travel light.

For the sake of your own joy, travel light.

There are certain weights in life you simply cannot carry. Your Lordis asking you to set them down and trust him. He is the father at thebaggage claim. When a dad sees his five-year-old son trying to drag thefamily trunk off the carousel, what does he say? The father will say tohis son what God is saying to you.

"Set it down, child. I'll carry that one."

What do you say we take God up on his offer? We just might findourselves traveling a little lighter.

By the way, I may have overstated my packing problems. (I don'tusually take snowshoes.) But I can't overstate God's promise: "Unloadall your worries onto him, since he is looking after you" (1 Pet. 5:7 JB).

Chapter Two

The Burden of a Lesser God

The Lord ...

Psalm 23:1

I'm only five feet from an eagle. His wings are spread, and histalons are lifted above the branch. White feathers cap his head,and black eyes peer at me from both sides of a golden beak. He is soclose I could touch him. So near I could stroke him. With only a leanand a stretch of my right arm, I could cover the eagle's crown withmy hand.

But I don't. I don't reach. Why not? Am I afraid of him?

Hardly. He hasn't budged in two years. When I first opened the box,he impressed me. When I first set him on the shelf, I admired him.Man-made eagles are nice for a while, but you quickly get used to them.

David is concerned that you and I don't make the same mistakewith God. His pen has scarcely touched papyrus, and he's urging us toavoid gods of our own making. With his very first words in this psalm,David sets out to deliver us from the burden of a lesser deity.

One might argue that he seeks to do nothing else. For though hewill speak of green pastures, his thesis is not rest. He will describedeath's somber valley, but this poem is not an ode to dying. He will tellof the Lord's forever house, but his theme is not heaven. Why didDavid write the Twenty-third Psalm? To build our trust in God ... toremind us of who he is.

In this psalm David devotes one hundred and fifteen words toexplaining the first two: "The Lord." In the arena of unnecessaryluggage, the psalmist begins with the weightiest: the refashionedgod. One who looks nice but does little. God as ...

A genie in a bottle. Convenient. Congenial. Need a parking place,date, field goal made or missed? All you do is rub the bottle and poof-it'syours. And, what's even better, this god goes back into the bottleafter he's done.

A sweet grandpa. So soft hearted. So wise. So kind. But very, very,very old. Grandpas are great when they are awake, but they tend todoze off when you need them.

A busy dad. Leaves on Mondays, returns on Saturdays. Lots of roadtrips and business meetings. He'll show up on Sunday, however, so cleanup and look spiritual. On Monday, be yourself again. He'll never know.

Ever held these views of God? If so, you know the problems theycause. A busy dad doesn't have time for your questions. A kind grandpais too weak to carry your load. And if your god is a genie in a bottle,then you are greater than he is. He comes and goes at your command.

A god who looks nice but does little.

Reminds me of a briefcase I own. Though I'd like to fault the salesman,I can't. The purchase was my decision. But he certainly made iteasy. I didn't need a new satchel. The one I had was fine. Scarred andscratched but fine. The paint was worn off the zippers, and the edgeswere scuffed, but the bag was fine.

Oh, but this new one, to use the words of the college-age boy in theleather store, was "really fine." Loaded with features: copper covers onthe corners, smooth leather from Spain, and, most of all, an Italianname near the handle. The salesman gave his line and handed me thebag, and I bought them both.

I left the store with a briefcase that I have used maybe twice. Whatwas I thinking? It carries so little. My old bag had no copper-coveredcorners, but it had a belly like a beluga. This new one reminds me ofa high-fashion model: slim, stiff, and tight-lipped. A book and a newspaper,and this Italian satchel is "fullisimo."

The bag looks nice but does nothing.

Is that the kind of God you want? Is that the kind of God we have?

David's answer is a resounding no. "You want to know who Godreally is?" he asks. "Then read this." And he writes the name Yahweh."Yahweh is my shepherd."

Though foreign to us, the name was rich to David. So rich, in fact,that David chose Yahweh over El Shaddai (God Almighty), El Elyon (GodMost High), and El Olam (God the Everlasting). These and many othertides for God were at David's disposal. But when he considered all theoptions, David chose Yahweh.

Why Yahweh? Because Yahweh is God's name. You can call mepreacher or writer or half-baked golfer-these are accurate descriptions,but these aren't my names. I might call you dad, mom, doctor, orstudent, and those terms may describe you, but they aren't your name.If you want to call me by my name, say Max. If I call you by your name,I say it.



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Excerpted from Traveling Lightby Max Lucado Copyright © 2006 by Max Lucado. Excerpted by permission.
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