I have a love/hate relationship with cleaning. I really don't like to do it but I also really don't like things to be dirty or untidy. And, I love how satisfying it is when things are neat and clean. I'm sure you can relate.
I made a plan a couple of months ago to take a week and spring clean my house before the weather got too nice and I would resent spending time indoors. And clean I did. Every corner of my house was dusted, vacuumed, and more importantly, organized. The last project on the list was the pantry which serves as food storage and also has become the home for all the little things that you don't know what to do with: castors from an old storage unit, nuts and bolts from who-knows-what, shoe polish, extension cords, batteries... and the list goes on. Not sure what to do with it? Put it in the pantry just in case we need it again. That's the general philosophy.
So, on Friday, I took a deep breath and took every single thing out of the pantry and laid it out on my living room floor. It was completely overwhelming. I needed to go through every container, touch every item and make a decision whether or not to keep it and if it was staying, how to categorize it.
The mess in the pantry was tucked away around a corner that was invisible to me unless was looking for some tape or a Command Strip. The mess that I made in the living room with all of the stuff from the pantry was huge. It was the same stuff, but I had to make a seemingly bigger mess in order to deal with it. In fact, most of my spring cleaning tasks looked like this: make a mess to clean things. But the truth is, the mess wasn't worse, it was just exposed. There was no hiding from the expired-in-2017 salad dressing. It was there and ready to be dealt with.
If you haven't guessed it by now, here's the analogy: When God is working in our lives, it can sometimes feel the same way. As the Holy Spirit points out an attitude, action, thought or motivation that needs to be transformed, inviting you to dig out the root cause of it from a hidden part of your heart, it can seem like you're making a bigger mess. When you see your sin and selfishness for what they are, you can feel like there is no way that you'll ever be able to clean things up so that you think and act more like Jesus.
But just like spring cleaning, I promise you that the end result of this good work is freedom and joy. When you are able to have gratitude instead of entitlement because He has taught you to be content, it's a very good thing. When you can choose grace over bitterness because He has walked you through forgiveness, it is a very good thing.
I will have to go back to my pantry in a few months and tidy up again. I have a tendency to let it get messy again as time passes if I don't stay on top of it. And it's the same with my heart - the Lord will continue to work on me, speak to me, convict and challenge me. I'll have to revisit the things that tend to hide in the corners of my heart many times in my life. But He is always faithful when I invite Him to empower me to work on and work through what is next in my life.
Philippians 1:6 (NLT) says it beautifully: "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."
Happy Spring Cleaning... literally and metaphorically!
Pastor Tracy
THIS SUNDAY
SUNDAY, APRIL 21 @ 10am
Q&R: Question and Response
Is the Bible Full of Contradictions?
Pastor Ethan
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