Three Ways to Empty Your Red Wagon

Linda and I hope you enjoyed a Merry Christmas! Christmas takes me back to fond childhood memories. One of my most useful toys was my red Radio Flyer wagon. Growing up on a farm, this was indispensable in hauling puppies, firewood, or outboard engines. Of course…I also loved riding it down a nice hill!

What does a red wagon have to do with living the abundant John 10:10 life? When counseling people I share that we ALL drag a red wagon behind us that is loaded with our unresolved emotional “baggage” which can keep us stuck.

While wrestling with some of my own baggage,  I recently bought a great book by Shaun Nepstad called, Don’t Quit in the Dip. In one chapter I loved his analogy of getting off course in a mall and finding the directional map with the circle that says, “You are here.” Like the author finding himself lost in the mall, we need to know where we, too, are stuck and how to get back on course.

I love Paul’s advice for removing the hindrances of the past. In Philippians 3:13-14 AMP he wisely writes. “…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal…” To effectively progress in life, we need to deal with this baggage.

So, how do we do this? While it’s not as easy as hitting our computer’s “delete” button, it is still possible to dump our baggage. Here are three key ways to empty your red wagon:

1. Linda has long practiced journalling as an effective way to get stuff out on paper, work through it, and prayerfully give it to God. She begins writing during each day’s devotional time of prayer by thanking God for everything she is grateful for, confessing anything in her life she needs to ask God to forgive, and finally discussing on paper with Him her concerns and needs.
2. A second way to process what’s in your wagon is to spend some time with a good friend, pastor, or counselor. Just speaking aloud what is troubling to a trusted friend and getting advice and prayer is incredibly therapeutic.
3. A final way to resolve an issue in your wagon is to pray over it, believing the Bible verse, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6). Writing these down on a piece of paper and symbolically tossing them into a fire in the fireplace as heard and answered even before you see the results, is an act of faith. When Satan tries to bring the issue up again, you can simply say, “It is finished! God is handling it!”

So, before writing your New Year’s Resolutions try to resolve some of your past issues that prevent positive forward motion. Need a friend to talk to? Contact Linda at lindamwaterman@gmail.com or Reen at reen.waterman@navigators.org.