Went Off Without a Hitch

The TV show America’s Got Talent recently had a 93 year old man pull a 5000 lb pickup truck with his teeth.  Not to be outdone, I saw another man go for the world record of pulling a Boeing 747 as he walked.  (Seriously, where will you ever need a skill like that?)  In ancient Greek mythology, Atlas carried the whole world on his shoulders.  What’s this fascination we have for hauling around heavy loads? Finally, after 5 years, I decided to remove the U-Haul trailer hitch from the back of my car.  It was installed by the previous owner, I’m assuming to haul around something small. After all, my car is a 10 year old Toyota Camry nearing 200k miles with a four cylinder engine.  What can you really pull with that? (Maybe a portable hotdog stand…if the wind’s behind you)  Well it may surprise you. Upon removing it I noticed that the weight load capacity is 3500 pounds.  What???  My car only weighs 3200 lbs!

When taking off the hitch I found it was bolted to the frame and some of the bolts were rusted on.  (Great chance for me to use my grinder  This thing cuts through anything and has saved me hundreds of times from costly shop work.)  When that heavy hitch finally fell to the ground I kinda felt a sigh of relief.  A spiritual lesson worth sharing.  (I’ve also started to purge a massive amount of unused and unwanted things I’ve been holding onto in my house.  I sense a life change coming for me and I don’t want the burden of old crap holding me down)  What’s my point?

We often go through life with our own U-Haul hitch for the heavy loads we carry.  Shameful past.  Guilt.  Broken relationships.  Regret and remorse.  Hurt.  Secrets.  Habits.  And don’t forget all the “shoulda, woulda, couldas.” That stuff is a load we were never meant to haul around.  My suggestion: Release it.  Is it rusted, bolted, or welded to the frame of your life?  Doesn’t have to be.  God’s got a grinder that’ll cut that stuff away.  Actually, He’ll keep on cutting every time we try to hitch up some new weight on our soul.

So ask yourself today: Do I have a U-Haul hitch or am I pulling a load too heavy for me?  “Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matt. 11:28-30 Msg

Oh, BTW, U-Haul rents a trailer for you to take your junk to the dump. They’ll also give you a huge plastic bag that you simply fill up, call them, and they haul it away. (And PLEASE don’t just take it to a storage container. That $22 billion dollar industry is a whole new blog.)

There’s no place like HOPE,

Stefan