Clearing it out

So I've been at home this week, doing a few jobs that I have been putting off for ages. One of the tasks has been to get rid of the clutter that I have been carrying around from house to house. As part of my de-clutter mantra for 2011, I have been going through wardrobes, boxes and suitcases in an attempt to get rid of things I no longer need in my life.

Some things have been easy to get rid off. That red top from 2009, haven't worn you in while - bye, bye. Other things have much more sentimental value and I have had to think about the reasons why I want to keep them, evaluate it and then make the decision to cull.

Despite the difficulty in sending things off to a new home, there is great pleasure that comes from doing this exercise:

- space for better things

- restoration of order in my life

- freedom from confusion of having too many choices

In life we often hold onto things because of what they represent. It might be for a good reason, it might be for a bad one. Either way it has passed it's hold by date and we need to let it go. When we do so, we allow something better to fill its place.

Sometimes we hold onto people in the same way.

It's what we know, it makes us comfortable. 

Deep down you know you should show them the door but in reality it is hard.

Let's put it off.

It feels like the easier option.

I have found that it is not until you clear out the junk, letting go of the past and what it represents, letting go of that person and who they represent, do you have space to receive the good that God has in store for you.

God tells us in Isaiah 43:18 to 'forget what happened long ago! Don't think about the past. I am creating something new'.

Have you cleared the way to receive something new in your life today?

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