What’s in Your Purse?

Wonder why your purse may be heavier than needed? Stephanie Morris shares just why that may be - and what to do about it.

Elisa

What’s in Your Purse?

By Stephanie Morris

Have you ever cleaned out your purse and wondered where all this “stuff” came from? Or maybe you have a larger backpack-type purse so you can carry even more “essentials” and still have your hands free.

What are your essentials? Wallet, comb, lip gloss, hand sanitizer, breath mints, tissues, hand lotion, pen, phone. But you also have a half-eaten bag of nuts, used tissues, and three pens that don’t actually work. Gum wrappers. A journal or e-reader if you have to wait for an appointment. You needed to drop a birthday card in the mailbox last week. A few scraps of paper with scribbled notes.

Then, a bigger item comes along that doesn’t quite fit. Your walking shoes and hat in case you have time for a quick walk while out doing errands. A notebook for your meeting at church tonight.  

Maybe it’s time to clean out that purse and decide what really needs to be there.

Thinking about an overloaded physical purse spurs me to think about other ways that I am overloaded in my own being.

What am I carrying around that Jesus never intended for me to carry?

Oooh, baby – I could rattle off a few things.

As you sit with this idea, take up a pen and start journaling an answer and see what spills out. Because alongside the excessive volunteer positions, random untruths, and harbored ill-will, some weightier things might bubble up.

Anger over the relationship you had with your mom when you were 14 that you’ve never let go of and it’s affecting how you interact with your own children. Sadness over losing a friend when your lives took different paths. Losing your father to addiction and all that goes with that – from family dynamics to shame. Worry over your adult children who are making choices you never thought possible.

Those feelings, those circumstances, that guilt, shame, sadness, and anger were never meant for you to tote around, day after day – let alone, year after year. And they definitely aren’t from God. He promised a light load for us ("For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:30).

Take a fresh look at that bag and the lies and shame stinking it up. Jesus designed you to be in relationship with him, not to carry this heavy bag that weighs you down.

Maybe he wants you to give him the entire bag, or unpack it, one item at a time while you are sitting with him, the One who carries you and loves you.

In the midst of this unholy unpacking scene, he gives you a new bag – it’s a small drawstring backpack. You take hold of that little slip of a bag, and he says to you, “Ask me before you put anything in the bag.” When you open the bag from Jesus, you realize the drawstrings are goodness, the lining is grace, and when you slip it over your shoulder you can feel mercy leaking out all over you.

Sweet friend, lay down that weighty bag and sit at the feet of Jesus. Receive what he wants you to carry. He knows exactly what you need.

Stephanie Morris is an integrated marketing strategy consultant hailing from Northern Virginia. Upon launching her youngest child to college, Stephanie relocated to North Georgia and has since retired to serve her community through mentoring, consulting, delivering meals, and teaching Bible study. She is a widowed military wife, mother to three twenty-somethings, and a MomCo veteran serving in the ministry for 13 years across local and national levels. In her downtime, Stephanie enjoys watercolor, reading, and travel.