I have this urge to toss out stuff. I keep telling myself to have a garage sale and make some money from it, but that is a springtime venture and I’m ready now to get rid of things that are cluttering up the place—especially the garage! In the past we moved so frequently, we didn’t keep things the way we have since we moved into this house in 2007. I get unsettled when I have too much clutter around.
Taking down the Christmas decorations always helps a bit, but just not enough. I don’t do well with disorder. And that’s an amazing change because growing up I was the Queen of Disorder. My room was always a mess. Even after I first got married, I wasn’t neat and tidy. I wonder what prompted the change?
I try to keep my soul, (my mind, will and emotions) uncluttered as well. I find spending time with the LORD in the early morning hours helps. I used to handwrite my thoughts in a journal, now I type them into a computer. The process, however, remains the same. I think about the LORD and praise Him for His gracious love for me. I think about the previous day – and confess what I need to. I thank Him for what He’s done and doing in my life. I try to do those things before I ask anything. This process unclutters my soul.
There is one last step to my early morning routine. I listen. I remember when Samuel was a young boy and living in the temple with Eli. When he first heard the LORD call to him, he didn’t recognize the LORD’s voice. Finally, Eli realized what was happening and told the boy to respond, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” [1 Sam 3]
And God did speak, and Samuel did learn to recognize God’s voice. Amid our cluttered world, and often cluttered lives, we too need to recognize the LORD’s voice when He speaks to us. I have also learned that God is gracious and that when I don’t quite understand what He is saying, if I ask Him to repeat it, He will. He wants me to hear Him even more than I want to hear!
