What's in Your Backpack

Full disclosure, this writing is inspired by something my late mother told me.

My mom and I could talk for hours, several times a day, never talk about the same thing twice, and still talk the next day. We were super close. It didn’t start out that way since we were both strong-minded, but as I grew up, I discovered my best friend in her. She was terrific and had the most astounding wisdom from the simplest of things.

One time, I was going through a hard season at my job, and as we discussed opportunities that were before me, I asked her in a moment of doubt, “What if I can’t do it? What if I’m not smart enough? What if I don’t have what it takes?” And my mom asked me, “What’s in your backpack?”

Dumbfounded, I responded, “What are you talking about?!” She then told me about a movie she had recently seen, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

In the movie, four strangers are dropped into the jungle with one backpack. In the backpack were these random items that none of them had any idea what to do with. As each individual faced obstacles that seemed to threaten their life, in a moment of desperation, they would reach into the backpack and, voila, whatever they needed to get them out of this life-or-death situation was there.

Mom went on to explain to me that it didn’t matter where I was called, or what God had for me next, because if He called me to it, then He had already equipped me for it.

Mom said, “Everything you need is in your backpack. You just need to access it.”

Easier said than done, Mom.

How do we know what is IN our backpacks? How do we know we can do it? Sure, we can reference “I can do things through Christ who strengthens me,” but what if I miss God? What if I agree to something that isn’t God and get myself into a hot mess that I can’t get out of?

And here’s what she said, “What you put in is what you get out.”

No one is perfect, but if we are tuned into God, we can adequately prepare for the obstacles we don’t even know about. God tells us to be ready in season and out of season. That means, don’t ever stop putting God into your backpack.

What we watch, what we listen to, what we pay attention to…all these things fill our backpack.

You can’t reach into your backpack and pull out peace if all you’ve put into it is anxiety from scrolling through social media and watching the news.

You can’t pull out love if all you’ve done is focus on hate.

You can’t pull out faith if all you do is dwell on what you don’t have.

It’s so important, now more than ever, that we load our backpacks with the things that will get us through the next challenge.

You need to know that:

• God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31)

• You are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)

• You are blessed (Ephesians 1:3)

• You are favored (Luke 1:28)

• You are called by God for His purpose for His plan (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10)

• Supernatural peace is yours for the taking (John 14:27, Philippians 4:7)

• Christ died for you and offered you eternal life with Him simply because He loves you and longs for a personal relationship with you (John 3:16, Romans 5:8)

• You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

• You are not a mistake (Psalm 139:13-16)

All these things are weapons in your backpack.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Just as God was not frightened by a turbulent storm that the disciples feared, God is not scared by our circumstances. Just as He spoke to the storm, so we should be speaking to our storm.

God is not surprised by your situation. He is not confused or torn about what to do. If God is not worried, why are you?

We should wake up every day fully confident that God holds our world in the palm of His hands, and we should not fear pandemics, man, politics, or anarchy.

When you know who you are, when you know WHOSE you are, you are unstoppable because you know the truth.

When you know the truth, you can easily discern lies.

John 8:31-32 (NIV)

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

And when you can discern lies, you stop the plans of the devil. You stop his influence and his reign.

We will never live a perfect life until Christ comes and calls us all to heaven, and we are seated in heavenly places with Him. But until that glorious day, you will face challenges. You will face hardship. You will face unfairness. You will face hate. You will face ignorance. You will face evil.

Let me repeat this: you will face evil. You will feel like you’ve been dropped into a jungle with nothing but a backpack.

John 16:33 (NIV)

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The question is, what will be in your backpack?

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