Ridding our life of inner soul clutter is a choice worth making. The emptier our life is of clutter, the more God’s peace and joy can influence our thoughts, emotions, and choices. We start with our thoughts. Sad memories bring tears, but happy ones often initiate giggles and warmth in our soul.
We spend time listening to God as He tells us where He wants us to wait on Him. It may be the park, the attic, the basement, a tree in the backyard, or any other place that He wants to use to get our undivided attention. Writing down our thoughts helps us to empty our mind of inner clutter.
My first attempt at this lasted for six hours in the middle of my flowered bed sheets. Then, I realized that my children would soon be home from school and ready for their snacks; so, I went downstairs. Over the next few hours, my family all bustled in all around me.
It did not take long for busyness to once again bury me in outer clutter! There were mountains of waiting laundry, meat to thaw for supper, phone calls to return, bills to pay, and the checkbook to balance along with helping with homework and having supper ready when my husband returned from the office.
My time spent in silent meditation seemed to have occurred eons ago. Wistfully, I longed to return to that place of abiding, which I found in the middle of my bed. It is not that I did not love and enjoy my family. They mean everything to me. However, I felt bereft, as if I lost something that I had not even discovered yet.
This sense of deprivation overwhelmed me, but God did not abandon me. In the weeks that followed, God allowed me many times of isolation in my flowery bedroom retreat. The inner clutter slowly gave way to a peace-filled hollow. This hollow was just like a new home arranged for occupancy.
The good news is that negative emotions such as fear, confusion, distress, distrust, and dread no longer filled every recess of my soul. I felt free for the first time in my life. I breathed more slowly rather than holding my breath. I did not fear the worst like I used to do. My focus on God became my heart’s desire.
Prayer:
Father God, during this time alone with You, the reams of pages in my lap contained the struggle I went through to release negative thoughts and feelings from my soul as I placed them in Your heart. The peaceful void that remained was an open book, on which You began to write Your Words on my heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
Seeking You first and walking by Your Spirit rather than asking You to bless our plans provides us with a much more fruitful and fulfilling life (Proverbs 3:5-6). When we rid our life of clutter, Your peace, joy, love, and faith permeate our life. Teach us how to face challenges, trials, hardships, and negative issues from Jesus’ example.
Thought for the Day:
Once we shed all the clutter in our thoughts, schedule, home, office, and life, this allows us to better hear the direction from God’s Holy Spirit; Jesus is the peace-maker in our life, and He calms the storms that constantly rage all around us.
