For
God is not the author of confusion, but of peace...
(1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV)
Another note (summer edition):
Yes, I am sharing a post that I shared earlier this year, because I felt
some nudging through the Holy Spirit to share this post this week. My hunch is someone “needs” to read this. It seems somewhat appropriate as I work on
sorting through information for the Holy Spirit series—some might call it
clutter—I call it research.
Additionally, I am in research mode for a sub-topic for my Sunday school
teaching responsibilities (spiritual gifts a sub-topic of sorts as we consider
the bigger topic of Heaven). Just this
week, I did a small amount of purging of “stuff” that simply needed to go into
the garbage. Honestly, it is freeing
once the anxiety goes away.
Note: This post is from January 29, 2016. As I was praying and preparing this week, I
felt the Lord impress on me to post this message again (possibly with some
editing). Moreover, I am feeling some
“nudges” to develop more posts with this theme.
Just know that I am “preaching” to myself as much as I am to those who
read this post!
Many people struggle with
clutter in their lives: inner and
outer. I face struggles in this area,
yet there is a degree of order to the “mess” (in other words, I can almost
always find what I am looking for).
There may be a method to my madness…or not! At the same time, I realize that God likely has
a different perspective about my clutter.
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| Image from Pixabay |
Holding on to objects—whatever they may be—of our past, a past the Lord has led us away from is likely far more counterproductive than we realize. Whether or not we realize it, we are weighed down, hampered, kept from the future that awaits us; the future that is created especially for us by Jesus our Savior and Lord. This is the future where we will find a happiness and a contentment that comes from being where we are needed and doing the things the world most needs us to do. This reminds me of a quote from Frederick Buechner: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”[1]
Letting go of the “stuff” gives
us freedom for the future—openness, space, margin for the Lord to work and for
us to work too. When we are free of this
“stuff”, perhaps “stuff” that haunts us, we can become the person we were meant
to be all along! All this “stuff” that
we think we need only distracts and
hinders us (this is at least partially true for me).
To be sure, the “stuff” is not
always bad; it may have served a good and worthy purpose in the past. If the “stuff” is truly a thing of the past;
a past that is no longer the path God wants you walking down, why cling to it,
as if it has the power to save? This is
what I have talked to myself about in the past and even just this week (as of
the writing of this post in January 2016).
At the point God made it clear to me that the path I was on was not the
correct one, I was so overwhelmed that it did not occur to me to start parting
ways with the objects that had occupied hours
of my life for many years, and stuff that I had spent a sizable amount of money
to acquire.
Over the past several years,
the Lord has been freeing me more and more of the files of paper, projects that
were a significant part of my past.
Since the beginning of the year (2016) I have gotten back to work—it is work but it goes amazingly fast. It is also completely overwhelming at times;
mostly it feels great! Now in 2017, I am
beginning to see the deep need for even more work in this area.
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| Image from Pixabay |
Our God is a God of order (as
can be seen the Scripture above). He
created order. Therefore, order pleases
Him—order in our lives, order in our churches—makes a difference, a difference
that might just makes others take note.
God brings order to our disorder, if
we allow Him. As we depend on Him to
remove the inner and outer “clutter” we find freedom. This freedom gives us the necessary space to
think, to create, and to simply live.
Jesus also
addressed this in His Sermon on the Mount:
“Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 KJV).
Where are you storing up treasures?
I am working towards an increasing desire to store up
treasures—the most important treasures—in Heaven; a work that is in
progress. These are the treasures we
should all desire.
In some way, releasing all this
stuff, the baggage of the past—tangible objects and people may well be a type
of “pruning” (see John 15). I invite you
to check the archives of the blog for some posts from last year on abiding (and
pruning).
We can depend on God to help us
in our weakness. He is kind and gentle
with us, yet He does not allow us to stay—growth, change happens and is
expected. I am thinking my releasing of
this “stuff” will take me places I have never dreamed possible.
What do you need to do with the
“clutter” in your life?
How is Jesus helping you with
the “clutter” in your life?
Please join with me in prayer:
Dear Lord of Order, We confess
that our lives are out of order; we need your help in regaining order. Enable us to see our living and working
spaces with Your eyes, so that we can address the piles of “stuff” that weigh
us down. Likewise, we need Your love,
grace, and power to clear away our inner “clutter”, providing the necessary
space for You to do Your creative work within us. Remind us to be loving, caring, and gentle
with others who struggle, as well as with ourselves. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.
From My Heart to Yours,
Kim
Ridding ourselves of both material clutter and the inner clutter that prevents a closer walk with the Lord are both so necessary for us to grow spiritually, following freely where Jesus is leading. Thanks, Kim, for this much needed reminder!
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings!
Martha, Thank you for your kind words, support, and encouragement. Learning the lessons that material and inner clutter is impacting the whole of my life is something that seems to be a long process for me. You're welcome for the reminder.
DeleteLove and blessings!
I am working on ridding myself of "clutter"...at least I am THINKING about it, and that is the first step. The next step is actually DOING something about it...and I am trying to work through that in my mind. I come from a long line of "collectors" in my family, and it is difficult to let go of "stuff" from our "ancestors" that have been entrusted to me. But I must begin this purge...we hope to downsize to a smaller home sometime in the next few years, and I need to get ready NOW. Thank you for this helpful lesson! Now I must apply what I have learned.
ReplyDeletePam, I just lost the reply I was nearly done crafting. I can relate all too well to your struggles with THINKING and dealing with the clutter over DOING something about it. Similarly, I come from a long line of collectors of "stuff". My mom simply couldn't get rid of stuff, so after she passed, I had a mess of stuff to try to sort through (and that was just the basement!). Thankfully, friends helped from time to time.
DeleteNow the clutter I'm dealing with is mine, for the most part.
I'm glad this lesson was helpful for you! And yes, let us both apply what we've learned!
Blessings!
Kim, I needed this declutter message. I have felt nudges to clear-out most of my sewing supplies in order to make more time and room for my writing. And, recently, another even bigger reason has motivated me to heed the urge to purge my fabric stash. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteblessings ~ Wendy
Wendy, Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I'm thankful to know that this post on decluttering provided some motivation for you to purge your fabric stash. It's amazing how in different seasons of our life we accumulate certain things--only to see the need to purge in another season.
DeleteMay we both find joy (and freedom) in letting go of things to have "space" for what God wants us to do next.
Blessings!
Kim
Hi Kim! I hope your decluttering and organizing your thoughts has been going well. I took the summer off myself just to attend to my family and everyday life, and it is very freeing!
ReplyDeleteLove seeing you on your sermon video, how cool is that? It's a great privilege and service to share your faith with others, you go girl!!
Blessings,
Ceil
Hi Ceil! It's good to see you here again! Well, the decluttering and organizing of "things" is going okay, however, my thoughts is another story altogether. There remains quite a lot to do in decluttering and organizing my life and my environment, yet I'm making progress.
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed my sermon video. It's a great privilege and blessing to serve the Lord and share with others. Your encouragement means a lot to me!
Blessings,
Kim
You aren't the only one who struggles with a cluttered space, or a cluttered mind. I think it's just the human condition. I'm so glad that you're making progress! Good for you. Knowing it's an issue is powerful, because then you can make that change.
DeleteGod bless!
Ceil, thank you for this reminder that I'm not the only one who struggles like this. On some level, I know that I'm not the only one--it's nice to have the reminder though. And yes, acknowledging the issue is powerful--change can happen when we acknowledge what is going on. Thank you again for your encouragement!
DeleteBlessings!