A number of years back my wife and I moved to North Carolina, where I took a job as program director and morning show host of a Christian radio station.

After much thought and prayer, we packed our belongings and loaded the U-Haul for our first major move. I never realized how much junk we owned until faced with packing it. I’m convinced I threw more away that day than I packed! My wife was terror-stricken I would catch her with her head turned and throw out things just so I wouldn’t have to load them.

My parents made the trip with us and helped unpack before heading back to West Virginia. They were great help, and fortunate for us, worked cheap, if you know what I mean. As a matter of fact, Dad insisted on paying the toll booths for all three vehicles. I’m convinced there will be a special place in heaven just for parents.

They were not well up in age, but I wanted to keep them from lifting anything heavy. I used a truck dolly to wheel in the major appliances, and our furniture was not heavy at all. But we have an extremely heavy television, and I didn’t feel comfortable using the truck dolly to move it from the truck to the living room.

I decided to wait for the perfect opportunity to grab the television and sprint for the apartment so Dad wouldn’t try lifting it. Did I mention there were a lot of stairs involved? Finding my perfect chance, I grabbed the television and started on the long, hard climb. I grunted and wheezed as veins popped out in my forehead, arms and neck. I wasn’t walking, and I sure wasn’t running; I guess you could say it was more of a quick-paced waddle.

I did mention the stairs, didn’t I? The grunting and wheezing turned to mumbled prayers as I struggled with each step. I thought my arms were going to fall off before I could safely put the television down. Sweat bathed my body and dripped from the end of my nose.

Dad saw me struggling with the weight and came to help. I motioned with my head for him to get out of the way and began grunting, “I got it. I got it. I got it.” Yeah, sure: it was all I could do to keep from dropping it!

Finally reaching the living room, I sat the monstrous box down on the couch and bent over it for the longest time. My energies spent, I found my way to my recliner and rested for a while.

Oh how often I find myself doing the same thing in my spiritual life–taking on enormous burdens without ever asking my Heavenly Father for assistance. Have you been guilty of this? God wants to help us with those burdens if we will only slow down enough to allow Him to put His hands on them.

And what else can I take from this story? Well, I’ve also noticed that I carry far too much junk on my spiritual journey. I pack trash in spiritual suitcases, thinking the junk will matter when I get to my heavenly home. My journey would be less stressful and burdensome if I could learn to clean my spiritual closet on a daily basis.

Like the special trip my dad made to help me with items I couldn’t handle alone, Jesus made a special trip to Calvary to help us bear our burdens–not to mention paying the toll booths on the way.

Mike Collins www.mikecollins.biz