The new year came with its annual call to “clean out and organize”. Homes often fill up over the years. Add kids and it is a guarantee. What begins as plenty of space turns into filled closets and crowded rooms. Things we don’t need today, might need one day, or can’t let go…pile up.

Have you ever picked a room in your home and cleaned it out thoroughly? I don’t mean kinda, I mean top to bottom. Clutter gone, remaining items organized. Tell me you didn’t visit that room often to soak up the peace that space now offers. It just feels good.

Several years ago, the stuff in our home was finally too much. Where did it all come from? And why did we have so much that was not needed and added no value to our lives? The occasional skirmish to take back a closet or room escalated to an all out war to reclaim our entire home.

We may de-clutter our homes, but what about our lives?

Something else happened. I realized that not only was our home full of un-needed things…so was I. An honest look around told me to reduce the clutter in our home for the good of my family. My soul told me to reduce the clutter inside of me for the good of Shane!

That last part was new to me , but that happens when you let God into your life. Things change, you change, awareness grows. Sure, there were plenty of good traits and memories, but I began to see the full inventory…un-needed things, baggage I carried, and the damage it caused.

There were past failures, grudges, anger, pride, envy, selfish desires, unforgiveness, bitterness, feelings of inadequacy, fear, disobedience, lack of appreciation, guilt of the consequences. I could keep going. A heavy load when you throw it on the scale.

We store unneeded things, but not God. He gets rid of the clutter.

I never set out to keep any of that. I just didn’t know how to get rid of it. So, I stored it all inside of me, just like in my home. But just as we can’t live, work or operate efficiently in a cluttered space, God can’t live, work or operate efficiently in a cluttered soul. That’s just how it works.

Got Soul Clutter? Start right here…let God into your life. That’s it. Just let Him in and watch what happens in you and around you. And don’t just test the waters. LET…HIM…IN!

Seek God in your daily life, live expectantly in His promises, and watch what happens to your clutter. The “cleaning up and cleaning out” that’s beyond your capacity…He will handle. Trust me on that one.

Get in the boat. Do your part.

From Nose to Toes.

 

Shane /#16

 

Shane Hale is a “redeemed & re-purposed professional baseball player” and former corporate sales executive. Shane, his wife Michelle, and their three sons live in Mobile, Alabama, USA, where he works as a Realtor. While seeking God’s plan for his life in the summer of 2014, God told Shane to start writing. Today he shares his faith to encourage and inspire others to seek His plan for their lives as well. Check out his blog at http://www.the1sixproject.com.

Banner Photo: Shane Hale, My Cluttered Life