Living out of Your Own Suitcase

Jesus gave us the greatest demonstration of God’s love in the servanthood that he embraced. He said that “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mat 20:28). Isaiah the prophet introduced Jesus as the servant, “And now the Lord says —

he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength” —  (Isa 49:5). Jesus showed us how to live as a servant. Paul said we should be like him, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:5-7).

We have everything we need to be a servant. God made each of us to serve others on this planet. He gave us the tools to do the job when he designed us. He packed our suitcase for us because he knew what we would need. David describes our uniqueness in these words, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalms 139:15-16). When God created each of us, he chose the right temperament, the right personality, the right features, and everything about you was part of his plan. No mistakes and therefore no reason to think that you are inadequate for the calling God has for you.

Several years ago my father accompanied me on a trip to speak at youth camp in Salta, one of the northern provinces of Argentina. We rode a bus to get there with all the luggage stacked on top of the bus. When we arrived in Salta several hours later, my dad’s suitcase was not there. He had to live out of my suitcase for the entire camp. It was uncomfortable because he had to wear clothes that didn’t fit him properly. Everyone has their own things they feel most comfortable with, so it was definitely an inconvenience.  In a few days we returned home and an interesting thing happened later that week in the city of Tucuman where we lived. Our neighbour, Mussy after hearing of our plight with the missing suitcase, noticed in the newspaper that the police had published a notice of a suitcase belonging to Mr. G. N. Brooks. We immediately went to the police and surprisingly were able to reclaim the lost suitcase. Even though it had fallen off the bus over 200 miles away, someone had dropped it off in our city.

It’s ironic in life though how many people have misplaced or lost their God-given suitcase. They are living life out of someone else’s suitcase. They are impressed with someone else’s talent or skill or beauty, and they are trying to be somebody else. Sometimes we allow other people to give us their suitcase, such as a parent or grandparent. How much better to find your own suitcase of skills, talents, personality and use what God has given you for his glory. Only when we are who we were meant to be will we be content, and we were meant to be God’s servants.