A friend came over this morning for coffee. I was excited to have a little adult time and completely oblivious to my surroundings. Upon her arrival, I began to scan my surroundings. You can imagine the shock as miraculously my eyes were opened to the chaos that is my life.
There were popcorn crumbs all over the floor...and on the couch that was currently disassembled. Dirty dishes were clumsily discarded and strewn all over the living room. An overwhelming pile of clean laundry graced the dining room table waiting to be folded. Books were shoved awkwardly onto the overcrowded bookshelf. A stack of already played board games and puzzles neatly stacked on the desk, awaiting their return (obviously by someone other than the player) to the upstairs cabinet. SIGH!
“How am I just now seeing this?" I thought.
Clutter.
It was there before I became aware of it. Has been piling up for weeks, maybe months. In the busy chaos of life...and being lived in...my house spins with "stuff". What made my eyes open to the unnecessary piles and unkept carpet?
Pride? Wanting my guest to think I have it all together. Possibly.
Time? Stopping long enough to look around and actually see. Maybe.
Insecurity? Believing that I am a bad steward of this home and kids that the Lord has given me. Perhaps.
Fear? Someone might not like me or the way I run my household. Conceivably.
Clutter.
It is there in all of our lives. It is wrapped up in things like pride, business, insecurities, and fears. We may not see it, blinded by the busyness of life or the lack of motivation to acknowledge something we don't want to see. When are we going to have the time to work on us when the realization happens? So we pile. We stay busy. We walk onto the next room. We ignore.
What we need to remember is God sees. He sees so many layers of clutter that He protects us from ourselves. It would be too great of a burden to bear for even the "best" of us to see the enormity of our sin. But He sees.
Then there comes moments in life when He opens our eyes to a small corner of the room of our souls. The pile of laundry so to speak. We may be overwhelmed at first. Shame may peak its ugly head. Guilt may begin to grow. But He gives us His power of motivation to take the first step, and then the next. He sustains us in our weakness. He pursues us in our wandering. Until that entire pile of laundry, that clutter in our souls, is neatly folded...and even put away.
When the Lord prompts us with the arrival of guests, opens our eyes to the clutter in our lives, and spurs us on with motivation to spruce things up a little, we would be wise to listen. To be motivated to do the work. The longer we wait, the more the clutter builds up.
Have you ever noticed how a clean house is easier to keep clean? The same goes with our souls. The sooner we do the work to declutter, the easier it will be to keep clean.