I'm in the process of de-cluttering our house. We won't look like minimalists when I'm done, but we will have gotten rid of quite a bit of excess things we don't need or use. For the past two Saturdays, we have tackled the two "junk rooms" that seem to always pile up with things--JP's "man space" upstairs and our guest room downstairs.
De-cluttering is and has been a very emotional, almost spiritual experience for me. Yesterday as we cleaned out the guest room together, I saw the rest of the house starting to get messy. I immediately get agitated. I didn't want to stop for lunch or anything, but just get it over with. When JP did convince me to stop for lunch, I was anything but nice. I kept cleaning other parts of the house instead of taking a break--that recharge needed to finish the task. We had words...
I started processing through a spiritual frame of mind this whole idea of de-cluttering. We can pack things away into back rooms where no one can see them. We can pretend that everything in our lives is perfect as long as we don't open the doors to those rooms. Don't let anyone see those areas where we struggle. Make sure the doors are closed before we let anyone in. But we cannot compartmentalize the messes we've made into their own little forgotten areas. When we decide to deal with our "stuff"--sin, emotions, grief-- it often spills over into the other "rooms" of our house. Our relationships can suffer. Sometimes it's a whole room--a big issue in our lives. But often it's just a junk drawer here, and a piled up counter there that symbolizes little areas that we haven't confessed or given to God to work out of our lives.
But as we let Him come in and have His way with us-
It's tiring.
It can be painful.
It's uncomfortable.
We're vulnerable,
and often scared and upset at a new normal.
But in the end, we have done more than we ever thought we could. Our lives are more beautiful, more open and more welcoming to others.
In the end, we've experienced--His strength in our weakness; His rest for the weary; His comforting presence in the midst of hard times; and His forgiveness for the mess we've made when we've tried to work things out on our own.
De-cluttering and deep cleaning of your home and your spirit is hard, difficult work. Don't get caught up in the end result, but let the process change you into person God created you to be!
Even when we feel like things are beyond our control and we are letting go of things that we once held dear, let's remember these words from Isaiah:
"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." Isaiah 40:28
"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4