The Clutter Collection

Psalm 51:50 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast Spirit within me. The holidays are quickly approaching. In fact, they’re here! I’m finding myself, once again, in a panic as I open up closets and drawers and things are just a mess. Sometimes I scroll through Pinterest determined to organize my house as cleanly and crisply as the posts I pin, but then reality hits as I think about the junk drawer holding all my stuff, or, if I’m honest, my multiple junk drawers hiding lots of my stuff. With four almost-grown children, myself and my husband, it’s inevitable that things will be put in the wrong place. Candy wrappers, broken pencils, loose rubber bands, old receipts… things that should have gone to the garbage bin but end up crammed deep in a drawer filling any available space. God is using this season as an opportunity to show me a parallel to the state of my heart. From time to time I evaluate and realize that my spirit is a lot like the junk drawer full of accumulated clutter of life… from unforgiveness to fear, selfishness, jealousy, pride, disobedience and anxiety… that has the tendency to spill over and make a mess of our reality. When the garbage of life is crowding out the blessing of God’s presence, we can cry out to Him just as David did for Him to create a heart clean heart and renew a steadfast Spirit.