How To Declutter Your Heart
Do you need to declutter your heart? Are there some things in there that are “off-limits”?
My organizing client had a room where the “door remained closed at all times.”
Do you have one of those?
This room was full of things she was holding on to for memories sake, things she “might need one day,” things she wanted to give to so-and-so because they might be able to use it, plus, all the things she wanted to keep but didn’t know what to do with.
She would get anxious when people came over because they might open the door. Instead of enjoying company, she would constantly worry they would open the door and see her mess. She would even imagine what they might say and the shame and embarrassment she would feel if they saw her clutter.
This room was secret…until she finally made a decision to declutter and organize it and called for help.
Sometimes our hearts are like a cluttered room.
When our hearts get cluttered, we tend to keep the door closed.
We stuff the clutter – the bad thoughts we think, the struggles, the apathy, the questions, the ideas and dreams, the disappointments, the yelling, the bitterness, the addiction, etc. – inside and we shut the door to our heart.
One of the books I’m working through right now is Living a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.
She says,
Our job is to allow the spirit of God the access He needs to each of our hearts so He can cleanse them of debris. The clutter in our hearts throws off its acoustics…Does God needs to tear down some walls? Clear out some rubbish? Haul away some wreckage? Clean out some corners?
As a professional organizer this caught my attention.
What does my heart look like? A messy closet? A guest room where I only open the door to chuck something in and then quickly shut it the rest of the time.
Regarding prayer, I’ve kept the door “closed.”
Prayer is my focus for this year.
I have questions stuffed in my “closet” (my heart) about when my son was in an accident. It’s not even about him, it’s about how God answered the prayers of another community praying earnestly for a patient in the hospital with him.
I have apathy stuffed in my “closet” about God doing what He wants to do, which I love and trust completely, but then why bother praying.
I have disappointment in myself that I don’t do a good enough job which causes me to think that God is disappointed constantly.
God is always pursuing me.
One of my favorite beliefs is that God is always pursuing me.
Because of this, I chose to make prayer my priority focus this year.
I’m swinging open the door to my closet!
I’ve asked God to be my professional organizer and declutter my heart.
With all of His wisdom and experience, I’m allowing Him to come in and help me decide what to do with the stuff in my heart, the clutter in my closet.
The questions…
The apathy…
The disappointing “performance…”
Swing open the door!
No more shame. No more hiding.
It’s quite liberating. Freedom!
With God by my side, I’m taking the time to go back through the clutter, unearth the buried treasures, and intentionally decide if I want each one or not.
At the same time, not having any expectations about the speed and way in which He does His work OR the way in which I do my work.
God is the Professional Organizer leading the job.
He is gentle and caring, asking questions, showing me the scripture and leading me to answers.
He allows me to make the decisions, though.
Then, He bags up the trash and donate piles and takes them away.
He even cleans as we go, vacuuming out the corners and sweeping up the dust bunnies.
What about you?
Do you have an area of your life (or your house for that matter) where you are keeping the door closed tightly?
Are you ready to open the door, expose the clutter, and get help?
Are you finally ready to let go of shame and embarrassment and find freedom?
Remember, God is pursuing you and wants you to give Him access to “that” part of your heart and life where the door is always closed.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
Will you allow Him to declutter your heart?
In Him,
Tracy, Simply Squared Away
