Cleaning Up the Clutter

This weekend I was able to do something I have not been able to do in over 2 years. There was a full size fully functioning automobile parked inside our garage. Our garage had always been a "catch-all" of sorts and storage for many out of the way things. Well this weekend I met it head on. After countless tyrips to the dumpster with loads and loads of "stuff" and other trips taking donations to other places the garage was finally swept out and ready to start housing some vehicles.

Late in the afternoon Jennifer lets out a squeal and I automatically think, " What is it now?" Well convinced she has encountered a 50 pound black widow I "rush" over to see in the handle of an old bucket that it was indeed a black widow. I assisted this spider to the "afterlife" and consoled my poor wife for her scary ordeal. Now many times I have been ridiculed and scoffed at for my "mean" (misunderstood) spirit. But I will have you know that even though we were back to work in the garage I never, ever, not even once acted out on my strong urges to point at my wife's feet and say "don't move!" or "SPIDER!". I did chuckle each time I thought of it but I never did go through with it. Am I not the sweetest?

Well today I looked at a passage in Pslam 139 where David was doing some "clutter cleaning" himself. Well, he cries out to the Lord to "search me". David was a guy who was either hot or cold when it came to the Lord. One moment he would be doing mighty things for the Lord and then before you know it he would do something outrageously wicked. Well i his cry he asked for the Lord to search him in order to make him right. I began thinking about our day of clutter cleaning and how it was amazing some of the things you put away and lose track of. Countless times I would have to stop and say, "wow, look at this" or " I have been wondering where this thing was". Some items I had totally forgotten about. The same is true within our own lives. We can tuck, cram and hide things within our own lives and if we leave it alone long enough we forget that it is there. Easy enough? Well the truth is that whatever it is we hide does not go away if we hide it; basically it is just removed from "our" sight.

In order to have a renewed fellowship with our Creator we must "clean our clutter". Allowing God to search us , purify us and change us we must let go of alot of stuff even if we have forgotten it or hid it. Is it ironic that the things we hold close to us (not giving it to the Lord) are usually the things that hinder us or harm us the most.

I pray that each of us "trust' God's Grace and forgiveness enough to allow Him to help us clean up the clutter. I can attest to the fact that it is a hard chore; but rewarding when it is done.