What's in Your Bag?

One company's motto asks, “What’s in your wallet?” But since I’m holding more of a bag here, my question is,

"What's in your bag?"

My purse (or more often, my backpack) typically holds tissues, lip gloss, face powder, some cash and a card, my business cards, a pen, a notepad or journal, sometimes a paperback Bible, and — just to be real — receipts I need to sort, a few random things like a paperclip lying on the bottom of the bag and, when I checked my purse while writing this to see what really is in there, I found a sock — just one. Hot pink. 🤪🤷‍♀️😊 And also a tiny, shiny red heart that looks like it was part of some kind of decoration? 🤷‍♀️😊 Anyway! It can be interesting to hear what people carry in their bags, but what's more important is what we are carrying in the Spirit.

That’s our jetpack that can really make us soar.

I remember when a friend of mine commented that she didn’t know how she’d ever survive without her laptop, and shortly after that, it broke! I felt like God may have used that situation to show her a lesson that I know I also needed, and probably most of us need — that ultimately, all we need to rely on is Him. We should never feel like, “Oh, without my purse, I would die! Or, without my phone. Or without my … person. Or without my … facade I wear to be accepted. Or without my …” you fill in the blank. At the end of the day, if our bag is empty, if we’re stripped bare of all we’ve held onto and relied on to make it through the world and give us the strength we need to face each day,

would Jesus be enough?

Could we trust Him to strengthen us, and to build us back up to whatever we need? Could we believe that His angels would send the water and food (which of course we need at some point to survive), and His Spirit would send the people (because God Himself said “it is not good for man to be alone" — Genesis 2:18)? But if we had to wait for a while at ground zero, could we be satisfied in His presence and trust Him to provide? May we know in our core that God alone is our strength; He alone is all we need in our “bag.”

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

— Psalm 73:25-26