A few years ago when I was one of the leaders on our Women's Ministry team, I was asked to give a presentation. It would be our annual W. M's Christmas get together. We had 50+ women that usually signed up for this event. I was so excited and felt honored and blessed to be asked.
It would be during a 2 week period through prayer that the Lord gave me my topic that I would share with our ladies. I knew without a shadow of a doubt this was it and so proceeded to go about finding 60 boxes of various shapes and sizes ranging from a basketball to a donut hole size with everything else in between.
After getting everything I needed in order, I set about wrapping and adorning each and every box. Now as I did this, I would pick up a box and pray over it and the unknown woman who would be the recipient. I did this over and over until I had a pile of All The Pretty Boxes laying in front of me.
I sat there for a moment and cried tears of joy for what my Father had placed upon my heart.
The night finally arrived, December 4, 2003. It was pouring down rain but my philosophy as I stepped out of my car was, nobody was going to rain on our parade, not even the rain. Once inside the building I proceeded to place All The Pretty Boxes onto a beautifully decorated table.
As each woman entered into the room, she could see All The Pretty Boxes as she took her seat.
Now as we fast forward into our evening after prayer, fellowship and dinner, it was time for my message...and here is what my Father had placed upon my heart to share with these precious women.
Each one of these pretty wrapped boxes represents one of us and as you can see, they each come in a variety of different shapes, sizes and colors just as we do. Now in each of these boxes
contains a myriad of burdens. These burdens are called (HURTS, DISAPPOINTMENTS, SADNESS, FRUSTRATION, BITTERNESS, ANGER, UNFULFILLMENT, LONELINESS and PAIN). This is quite a list huh?
I then asked the women to take a few moments to reflect on these 9 burdens, keeping in mind that each and everyone of us has been burdened by these at one time or another and may still be holding on to one if not all as well. After a few moments of silence I continued on.
Our lives are full of these burdens and like All The Pretty Boxes, we women are also wrapped and adorned just as these boxes are. But unlike these wrapped boxes which we can unwrap anytime, most of our lives we never reveal what's inside of us. What most of us usually do is, go about our daily lives sufferering in silence, while only a few of us open up only out of desperation.
As I continued I said, Ladies, we don't need to live like this... hiding all these things inside of us, possibly crying yourself to sleep some nights. You know what I'm saying. Because NO matter what we don't or won't unwrap or reveal ladies, there is One who does know ALL we are hiding.
There is One who does know HOW we feel and that One my sisters is, Our Heavenly Father.
Some two thousand years ago, Our Father gave us the most beautifully wrapped gift of all...His son, Jesus Christ, and with his son came the ultimate gift, LIFE! The 9 burdens we have been loaded down with can really mess with our life but they can all be exchanged for the 9 fruits of the Spirit. Oh what a wonderful gift that can be if only we choose to receive it. We each have that choice you know?
Now let me bring you back to All The Pretty Boxes spread out over this table. How many times have we gone to the foot of the cross carrying all our burdens? How many times did we get down on our knees and pour out all of our contents? How many times while prostrate did we pray in hope our Lord and Savior would see and hear all our lamentations? How many times did we pack up all our burdens back into that pretty box instead of leaving it at the foot of the cross and carry them right back into our life? How many times ladies, how many times.
Continuing on I said, Well ladies, tonight we have a choice and the chance to change all this. We have the chance to change our life and walk out of here a new woman. All we have to do is place all of our burdens/contents into one of these pretty boxes. As I release you to come and select your box, I want each of you to prayerfully ask your Father which one he would want you to take, then go back to your seat and start praying everything that has burdened you into your box.
Now after each of us had taken our pretty box and prayed into it, I then asked the women to lift our boxes up to our Heavenly Father and each believing in absolute faith, ask Him to accept all of our burdens. This was such a moving experience as I felt the holy presence of our Lord pass through that room. After this moment I then said, when you feel the time is right for you to open your box, whether it's this moment or months from now...you will know when to open it. Once opened, there inside you will find the greatest gift of all. Amen
I needn't tell you what was there, as I'm sure you already know. All I can say is, in the word of
Matthew 11:28, 30 it says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest." "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
The exchange policy for the 9 burdens can be found in Galatians 5:22-23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." |
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