I entered my cluttered home: everywhere I looked there were piles of stuff.

• my desk was cluttered to the point I couldn’t see the keyboard, let alone the computer
• the dining room table had stuff on it, things that needed to be put away
• piles of shoes on the floor that needed to be in a space I created just for shoes
• the bedroom chair I couldn’t sit in because it possessed a pile of clothes
• I don’t even want to describe the kitchen or the bathroom

The more piles of clutter I saw, the more discontent I became. Why do I stare at this stuff day after day, I asked myself. Why can’t I just have a goal in mind of doing the cleaning, even if I break it down that goal and do it a step at a time?

As I thought on this, it was as if God pulled back the curtains of reality and invited me into the spiritual realm to tell me something:

“Perhaps the reason for the clutter is the unwillingness to go through the process of getting clean.” 

Really? Must we go there? Apparently, God thought the need to bring this to my attention, so let’s take this a step further.

The mind, they say, is a terrible thing to waste. That waste can be in the form of allowing things to clutter it. Like the piles of stuff around my home that need to be dealt with, we allow our minds to be consumed with piles of worry, piles of ‘what ifs’ that may never come into fruition, all the while recognizing the overwhelming need to go through the process of de-cluttering. Imagine entering into a space where things are in order, what needs to be in a drawer and not on the floor, what needs to be on a hanger and not in a chair, what needs to be wiped down and smelling fresh and clean.

Imagine not taking worries to bed with you, not dreaming about problems, not waking up during the night, but rather awakening in the morning refreshed and ready to take on the day. How can all this take place?

The process of being clean enables peace to enter in. If allowed, peace can do a mental cleansing of the mind, ridding it of the cares of this world. If we go to God, in faith believing that He will take care of the ‘piles’ that clutter our lives, He will ensure that He will care for the stuff that leave us stymied, enabling us to go forward in an uncluttered way. That is when the process is needed.

• the process of letting go of what so easily entangles and besets us
• the process of being patient when we want things to happen immediately
• the process of being still and letting God handle the stuff of life

So one evening I came home and went to my bedroom and tackled the chair pile, and I was sure the chair was happy when it was empty. Next, I uncovered my dresser, putting  clothes to their proper drawers and being able to see all had been cleared away. More to do, but happy the process started.

Just my thought, but I think when your home is cluttered, perhaps it may represent what is mentally happening. And the problems that develops into piles in your mind transfers to piles of stuff you see in your home, so perhaps when this happens it is a signal that you need to mentally check yourself, and consider what it would be like to be clutter-less. When your mind is devoid of problems, you are willing to keep your living environment de-cluttered of stuff.

Could this be you? If so, consider being clutter-less, and be strengthenized.

Let the process begin…

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4: 6,7