I am having dinner guests this evening, and I have been preparing all day. Preparing food, cleaning floors, cleaning the bathroom, moving furniture, etc.
During all of these preparations, I reached a place this morning where I was stuck. I had a pile of food sitting in my kitchen I bought a week ago and had yet to put away. I couldn’t move the table or clean the kitchen until I put the supplies away, but I couldn’t put them away until I made room in the cupboard.
Despite the fact that I had a list of things left to do that I was in a hurry to get done, I had to stop and make room. Some of the work was an easy task of just moving things around, but there were also a number of things in the cupboard which needed to go; they had gone bad or were basically empty but hadn’t been cleaned for the recycle bin yet.
Some items I was aware of and had simply been too lazy or busy to deal with, but others were buried so deep in the cupboard I wasn’t even aware of their existence. Some items were easily tossed out; I will admit, some are still sitting on the floor, hidden away until I have time to clean them out thoroughly. I made room, but I have not finished the process of clearing the old completely.
I realized my life sometimes looks a lot like my cupboards. There are new things coming, but I have to make room for them. Until I clear out the old, empty or spoiled stuff, I don’t have room for what God wants to do in the coming days.
How often do we get stuck and unable to move forward in what we’re meant to be doing because we need to clear out some junk?
I’ve been thinking lately about Isaiah 43:18-19. This scripture passage often pops up at the start of a new year, and for good reason. It’s a good reminder. “Do not call to mind the former things or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new: now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”
Are you aware of new things God wants to do in your life as we embark on 2017? Are there old things in your life that need to go in order to make room for the new? Some things are easy to throw out; for some things, it is a process that takes more work. The important thing is to start the process so that there is room for new things.
What new things is God doing in your life this year? What do you hope He will do? Is there room for it in your life? Is there clutter you need to dispose of so you can move forward in what you’re meant to be doing today?
