Sometimes things can be removed in an instant-- miraculously, wonderfully, powerfully. Other times it seems that in the same way we acquired bad attitudes. ungodly ways of thinking, sinful habits over a period of years-- that they will be stripped away in similar fashion. Incrementally, little by little, one day at a time. If it took me thirty years to accumulate this plaque on my soul, it may take some significant amount of time to remove it. Could God take it away all at once? Of course He could, but that really may not be what's best for me. The truth is that we probably couldn't handle it if our lives were cleaned up all at once. We wouldn't know what to do with ourselves and we'd end up returning to the same condition, the same pile of vomit from which we came. If it happened instantaneously, we wouldn't appreciate it either. It wouldn't have been hard earned or hard fought. We wouldn't have learned how to hold onto and maintain our newly cleansed life; It would've come too easily.
Instead, God wants us to actively participate, agreeing to change for the better, every step of the way. He wants us to know for certain that there are some things that we absolutely do not want to have in our lives to any degree whatsoever whether they be alcohol or drugs, ex-girlfriends or boyfriends, unforgiveness, or lust. We may go back and forth until we eventually get so sick of it that we can't and won't allow any vestige of it to remain. Sometimes we just have to learn the hard way that certain things will always be unfruitful-- that nothing good ever came out of them before and nothing good will ever come out of them in the future. God wants you to make that decision, come to that conclusion on your own and then ask Him to help you take out the trash.
We have an area on the side of our house where things have a tendency to collect. Stuff that should've been gone long ago has somehow managed to remain. Linger. Some of the stuff has been there for years. It doesn't just occupy space in some kind of net neutral way-- it has become a problem. Detrimental. And it has to be recognized as such. Wendy and I decided it's time to make that area of our lives productive. [We haven't decided what we're going to do with that area yet... she wants flowers, of course.] But first, a bunch of things need to be kicked to the curb, physically removed from the premises. These things don't belong there.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
and lead me in the way everlasting.
-- Psalm 129:23-24
King David cried out to God-- Please help me clean out my heart. If there's anything wrong, that doesn't belong in there, then get it out. Whether it's a rusty bike, a torn up artificial Christmas tree, or an old hot tub unused for years-- Jesus can help you clean up the unfruitful areas of your life.
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| The ground only became visible after hours of clean-up. Now we can deal with the real mess. |
Timely post. I woke with a broken heart this morning and it is taking everything I have to just to go through the motions of life. "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts."
ReplyDelete"Please help me clean out my heart. If there's anything wrong, that doesn't belong in there, then get it out."
Crying out to God is all I have left in me. Thank you for this post.
Wonderful post! We are going through some things with our oldest son(8). Truth be told we have always been going through these challenges with him to some degree. As of late things had gotten so bad I was unsure how much longer the family could function and survive(let alone thrive with him in it) Sounds awful...but it is the reality.
ReplyDeleteI prayed so many ways. so many ways. I prayed for him to be healed...to be a bit better..for us to find the right meds once and for all...to find a new Dr...for patience and kindness and love on our part..just so many prayers. I still prayed i was thankful he was in our home as our family grew through adoption .
This is not exactly what your post was about, but we finally made the decision to wean him off all the meds the Dr had been putting him on as things were only worse. I wanted to peel back the layers and see what was really under there "Clear out the junk" if you will.
The last few days have been close to horrible. They were horrible actually. no one could tell us if this was his baseline or weaning off the meds. Every morning I woke to WW3. He is very aggressive verbally/physically etc...We are now on a very trivial amount of med...
This am I woke to quiet(my husband gets up with the kids an hour earlier). I assumed my son was sleeping as he has been raging for about an hour and then was sleeping for 2 hours. When i walked down the stairs and saw he was quietly and sweetly playing Legos with his 5 yr old sister and 3 year old brother i almost lost it. My husband said the morning was near "perfect" as is our own definition..lol
It's been almost 10 hours and he is better than he has been in weeks. Only time will tell. For today I am happy some of the "junk" is cleared out of his poor little head.
Praise God!!!
Liz