How To Spring Clean 101

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 (AMP)

The living room is cluttered with Fisher Price toys and baby paraphernalia. Closets are busting at the hinges. Cabinets barely close. This house feels too small for all our stuff, and that’s just the physical chaos. The kids constantly run circles around the floor plan and, turn up the TV volume to compete with their own voices.

I can’t find peace anywhere.

Can you relate?

So what do you do about it?

Well, we bought a bigger house. We move into our dream home, with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a huge yard, a deck and even a front porch. While the ink dried on our signed contract, I wondered how I would ever fill all this space! Then I spent years filling these rooms up with beautiful furniture and home decor. Before long, I was out of space again, so we finished off the area above the garage to make a large attic storage room. We had done it again, collected more stuff thean we had space.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

So, to get to the heart of the matter, we need to understand the difference between earthly possessions and heavenly possessions. To me, this means, we should live our lives with open hearts and open hands. We can’t do this with our hands full of stuff and our hearts closed off. We need to do some spring cleaning.

Like shelves full of nicknacks and trinkets, our hearts can become cluttered too. We start with just a few things from the past that get tucked away in a dark corner, almost forgotten. We think we can stack them up along the walls of our hearts, out of sight, out of mind. Then we pile on a few more memories to deal with later, if ever. Before long our hearts are so heavy with junk from our past, we can hardly breathe! Let alone find peace for the present.

If you’re like me, perhaps you’ve stored some of these things in your own heart:

• Hurts and anger
• Fears and anxiety
• Envy
• Grudges
• Failures and mistakes
• Self-pity
• Gossip
• Pride

Let’s look at how we can work to declutter our hearts.

God won’t build us an attic for storing our heart clutter. He never intended for us to spend our days managing old messes. He gave us freedom from all of this and He has a greater purpose for our time. All we have to do is ask God for His help in decluttering our hearts. Here is a 3 step plan I find works well for me:

• Ask God – Only God can blow the dust off some of these old wounds without causing damage. Pray and ask him to show you what has been collecting dust in your heart.
• Listen to God – He knows what is best for us. Some of the things He will show you may be hard to let go. We need to be prepared to hear some hard truths. But, when God says to let it go, we need to remember His love for us.
• Trust God – When we trust God is for us and not against us, we can change. Crazy as it sounds, you may find you miss some of your heart clutter and attempt to fill that space with something else. Instead, trust God with that new space and ask him to fill it with joy!

Spring is here, so let’s go clean out the attic and closets. But while we’re at it, let’s sweep out those cobwebs in our hearts as well. Then, we can start living life with open hands and a clean heart.

How do you emotionally spring clean? What have you allowed to pile up in your heart?

Heavenly Father, We lift our hands to you, emptied of all our “stuff.” We ask you to be with us this Spring, and we invite you to clean our hearts of the junk we have accumulated. Help us to listen and trust you, as you gently breathe into us your truths and fill our hearts with joy. In Jesus’ name. Amen

(Originally posted 3/24/19)