Reason #723
I guess you could say it started this summer. I was challenged and all of the sudden I had this unshakeable desire to purge. We read Radical, and I realized how abundant my life was with things. Maybe too many things. And so I had this urge to get rid of stuff because I started to feel smothered. We had more stuff than space to put it in, and most of it stays unused. But the thing is, when you purge, it takes a lot of work. I didn't really want to do the work of purging, getting rid of the excess and keeping the necessary, so I organized it. I bought containers and caddies and tried to make the excess nicely fit into a little box that I could slide back into the closet. With it being organized, I didn't feel so overwhelmed. However, the things are still there. Now, they are just in a box or neatly folded. It really didn't change anything. I still have all that stuff I don't need taking up space.
Today I have felt a little bogged down. And, tonight, I thought some more about what I wanted to do with all of this stuff I don't need anymore. I thought about what I wanted to get rid of and how I want to get rid of it, and I realized that maybe the reason I feel this way is because I needed to look more inwardly than just in my closets. Maybe the issue was not only surface level, but maybe it went deeper.
I have fallen guilty of doing this exact thing in my walk with the Lord. I fill my life, my time, my thoughts, with so much stuff. It's not necessarily bad stuff, it's just stuff. And I begin to feel bogged down and overwhelmed because I am consumed by the excess rather than maintaining the necessity. I am filling the space with things that are not Jesus, rather than only filling the space with Jesus. And because I have so much, I lose sight of Him. I get occupied with these worthless things and then I wonder why I feel this way. Why do I feel incomplete? Why do I feel empty and burdened? It's because I have filled my life with the things that don't matter. Things that are taking space up from the only One who matters.
It's hard not to get distracted by things. It's hard not to accumulate and rearrange in order to accumulate more. It's hard to purge when you've spent so long collecting, and it's not easy to give away the things you've worked for. But the lesson here isn't about what you have or even about how much you have. Maybe, it's about aiming for less. Maybe, it's about purging and giving up so that there is more room. Maybe, it's about saving all that free space for the Lord to fill and occupy rather than letting things consume it.
I don't know what I'm going to do with all, but I know I have to get rid of it. Get out from underneath it. Make space, not for me to fill, but space for Him to fill. Room to move, room to breathe, and room for growth in my walk with the Lord. Because that, right there, is abundant living.
#723 - For a God who will fill our space with His abundance.
"Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?" - James 2:5
Today I have felt a little bogged down. And, tonight, I thought some more about what I wanted to do with all of this stuff I don't need anymore. I thought about what I wanted to get rid of and how I want to get rid of it, and I realized that maybe the reason I feel this way is because I needed to look more inwardly than just in my closets. Maybe the issue was not only surface level, but maybe it went deeper.
I have fallen guilty of doing this exact thing in my walk with the Lord. I fill my life, my time, my thoughts, with so much stuff. It's not necessarily bad stuff, it's just stuff. And I begin to feel bogged down and overwhelmed because I am consumed by the excess rather than maintaining the necessity. I am filling the space with things that are not Jesus, rather than only filling the space with Jesus. And because I have so much, I lose sight of Him. I get occupied with these worthless things and then I wonder why I feel this way. Why do I feel incomplete? Why do I feel empty and burdened? It's because I have filled my life with the things that don't matter. Things that are taking space up from the only One who matters.
It's hard not to get distracted by things. It's hard not to accumulate and rearrange in order to accumulate more. It's hard to purge when you've spent so long collecting, and it's not easy to give away the things you've worked for. But the lesson here isn't about what you have or even about how much you have. Maybe, it's about aiming for less. Maybe, it's about purging and giving up so that there is more room. Maybe, it's about saving all that free space for the Lord to fill and occupy rather than letting things consume it.
I don't know what I'm going to do with all, but I know I have to get rid of it. Get out from underneath it. Make space, not for me to fill, but space for Him to fill. Room to move, room to breathe, and room for growth in my walk with the Lord. Because that, right there, is abundant living.
#723 - For a God who will fill our space with His abundance.
"Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?" - James 2:5
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