Flower Carrier, 1935

Diego Rivera

Source: Tigertail Virtual Museum

When you walk in to your house, what is the first thing you see?  For me, it used to be piles of paper on the jam cupboard.  Walk a little further, and I saw a huge box of junk on the kitchen counter and about 4 piles of random stuff on the dining room table.  Keep going, and I would see boxes I had never unpacked from moving (2 ½ years ago), recycling crates full to the brim, piles of half-finished laundry, and a hallway full of odds and ends that needed to be returned or brought to someone.  Yes, my house used to be full of clutter.  In fact, that was almost all you could see.  When we had guests over, I would throw things into boxes and stash them in the garage, herd items into our bedroom and close the door, and I would even pile things in a corner of the family room and throw a ‘decorative’ sheet over them.  Ugh!  I felt so oppressed by my clutter – like I was always dealing with STUFF.  There was so much junk in my way! 

I’m using the past tense here because now when you walk into my house what you see is my pretty furniture, my clean floors, and my gray carpet (well, ok, and lots of toys my toddler has strewn throughout the house…and a few wayward items of mine).  You see, since last March I have been a part of an internet group that has helped me get rid of clutter.  Leading the group is a sort of email drill-sergeant who has helped me and many others get our homes in shape.  I feel so free and truly feel as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I still have a garage that could be hiding Jimmy Hoffa, and don’t you dare set foot in our den…but the main living areas are beautiful, and I’d even let strangers look in my hall closet and bathrooms.  This internet group has encouraged me to look closely at what I have in my home.  If I don’t absolutely love it or use it once a month – it has to go!  Now that I have gotten so much stuff out of my way, I can really see all the beautiful things in my home, and I can actually enjoy my peaceful house. 

This got me thinking about the clutter that keeps me from God.  I have so much ‘clutter of the soul’ – things in my heart and on my mind that keep me from seeing what God wants to show me.  Sometimes when I pray, I think about all the times I have let God down: the people I was unfriendly to, the relationships I’ve messed up, the situations I didn’t handle the right way.  I think about how many times I’ve ‘blown it’ with God – and I start to think that maybe God is tired of me.  Instead of listening to God, I’m going over and over the same things: the ‘clutter’.  God doesn’t want me to do this!  Jesus assures us that God forgives all our sins – that there is nothing we have done that God can’t forgive and throw out.  God loves us and wants us to be able to move on.  As David put it in Psalm 32:5, “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (NLT) 

I’m taking time this week to pray through the clutter of my soul.  I am going through all these thoughts and getting rid of them.  I pray for God’s forgiveness, thank him for his healing, and put those thoughts and memories out at the curb with my garbage…just like I’ve done with the clutter in my home.  Now that I’m getting these things out of the way, I’m more able to see what it is God wants to show me – where he wants to use me NOW.  The more clutter I get rid of, the more I can hear Him.  What clutter is in your way? 

In Hope,

Leah Smith  

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
(Matthew 11:29-30 in The Message )

To respond to this message, please direct your emails to: lsmith@ecreekside.com

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