Soul Clutter

We did it! This past weekend my husband and I began the process of cleaning out our shared master bedroom closet – a space we use many times a day, but one that we had not attended to for, let’s say… a number of years. In the fast pace of living we kept “adding to” but not “removing from” at the same rate. Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.

We did it! This past weekend my husband and I began the process of cleaning out our shared master bedroom closet – a space we use many times a day, but one that we had not attended to for, let’s say… a number of years. In the fast pace of living we kept “adding to” but not “removing from” at the same rate. Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.

We knew where everything belonged, but were so used to the crowdedness that we were immune to the appearance of clutter and that crammed in look. The time had come. Something had to be done.

The progress we made cleaning out, throwing away, creating piles to give away began to give us a feeling of accomplishment and freedom AND energy – surprise side benefits. We found things buried in there that we had not noticed for months. As we began to reorder this space to make it more functional the organizing nurtured a sense of order and regularity.

I walked back into our closet often just to notice the change and felt this sense of relief. I wondered, isn’t this a lot like what happens in my life when I do not attend to my soul? Or, in our lives when we don’t attend to our souls?

We are bombarded daily by thousands of sensory images, pulled by multiple demands on our time, knowing all the while the impossibility of juggling all the balls and doing any of it well. We are depleted, discouraged, overwhelmed moving faster and faster- adding to but not removing from. We have lost a healthy rhythm of living life and desperately need some good, sound soul refreshment, restoration and cleaning out.

Soul clutter is the impact of wants, issues, concerns that are not attended to or thought about or processed with the Lord. Cluttered disorder happens when we miss sitting in the Presence of Christ to have Him nurture our soul. We neglect this priority that is so life giving and opt for the demands of the urgent forgetting the soul nurturing rhythms that we need. Consider how God formed the soul of the young nation of Israel through daily, weekly, monthly and yearly rituals that gave Israel an anchoring that was life giving.

I wonder if this is the “good part Mary chose” in Luke 10 and what Jesus prayed for us in John 17:3 “that we might know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom God had sent”? The Psalmist says Psalm 32:7 “You are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

Jesus invites us “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29

It is not easy to de-clutter your closet much less your soul. But, there is an answer and we do have a place to go to restore and replenish.Consider reordering your life to create some space to attend and notice His Presence. In His Presence we gain anchoring so we can go back out and live in the hectic press of life’s demands. It is in the Presence of Christ we will be refreshed and nurtured.  Jesus has invited us to come. What will you do with His invitation?