Our minds cloud easily. Clutter enters one worthless piece at a time and, before long, our thoughts are in disarray. Somewhere along the line our emotions become tangled up in the nest also and we find ourselves having difficulty in discerning what we should think, how we should feel and where we must turn. In the meantime there are our daily duties to fulfill, unyielding obligations to execute and the grind of life which demands we rise up and…live. Who has time to sort out all the complicated stuff? It simply isn’t practical to consider slowing down and sorting through all the mess in our minds and hearts in an attempt to regain our bearings and recenter ourselves in what God has said. We learn to live with the inner turmoil and carry about a slightly desperate hope that things will settle down in time to come. We march on…heads full of noise…and do what has to be done in order to make it to the next day. Busy saints learn to survive and I suppose there is much commendation in enduring, persevering and remaining steadfast. But is this type of struggling existence consistent with what Jesus Christ meant when He declared that He came to offer us abundant living?
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” – 2 Chronicles 16:9
In recent prayers I shared with God that I was grateful that He had taught me how to endure. I hazarded an addendum to that declaration of my gratitude with a request that He might now entrust to me the joy of knowing what it means to trust Him for the undeniable experience of abundant living. If Jesus has promised to give us abundant living then I’m going to assume that we will know it when we are consistently experiencing it. We must turn the corner in our thinking and come to the scriptural conclusion that God delights in blessing His offspring with His very best. The verse above from 2nd Chronicles unilaterally declares that His omniscient eyes are scanning the planet in order to locate a person with whom He may entrust His choicest treasures. God is strong and desires to impart that strength of His to someone who lives with a blameless heart. Though none of us could lay a claim to sinless perfection, we should all be eager to arise and seek to live in a manner that is without deceit, duplicity or denial. Living with nothing in between us and our Lord – this is what it means to live blamelessly. God is seeking to pour out His infinite goodness upon someone down here and the requirement to receive is found in the orientation of our hearts toward Him.
What does He see in your heart when His searching eyes rest there?
If for no other reason, this is a just cause for us to address the cluttered minds and hearts we so often live with. How can I know if my heart is qualified to receive God’s best if there is a messy morass therein? Disarrayed closets don’t become so overnight and they are never straightened out accidentally. Item after item must be picked up, brought forth, assigned a value and either thrown away or placed back in an orderly fashion alongside everything else which is deemed worthy of being retained. In the end, there is less material in the closet which, consequently, means less disorder. Additionally, there is now more available space in that closet for other things which have value. We see this so clearly when it comes to messy closets, disorganized kitchen drawers and cluttered garages – but we fail to apply this simple principle to something much more important. We must address the content in our hearts and minds and endeavor to free up some space wherein God might deposit something of great worth.
If you have lost your confidence that your Savior desires to be good to you then I will diagnose you with the malady of a cluttered heart. Bluntly speaking, you have amassed a heap of junk in your thought-life and now your heart senses the cramped, dusty and disorganized state of being that always results from this affliction. If you wait for this to go away on its own, I have to tell you that it will not. You simply need a time-out and to utilize that brief break to be still and quiet in the presence of your Lord. You may not be able to take multiple days off (or even a full day) from the have-to’s in your life. You can, however, take an hour or two. Rise up a little earlier for a few days, break the monotony of your daily routine, and slow down enough to begin to diagnose the individual pieces of your own personal mind-clutter. Amazingly, you will find that God is ready to assist you in this process and it will not be as discouraging as you might fear. He is looking to bless you, He really is. He is eager to aid you, He really is. He’s not upset at you for allowing things to get to this point, He’s really not. God is a Master at clarifying the cloudy, ordering the chaotic, and simplifying the inscrutable. He will take all the time in the world with you because He has chosen you in love and committed to perfect that which concerns you. No need to wait for a more convenient time because today is as uncomplicated as it’s going to get for you. Trust Him again. He will provide you with the very heart that His eyes are scanning the earth to bless. You may be confused, overwhelmed, low on hope, fatigued, running on empty and less than confident…
He is none of those things. He is your God. And He is ready to help.
I worry a lot. I worry about the things that most people probably have never heard of; like the New Madrid Seismic Zone. What will happen if that earthquake zone slips? Will it make the Mississipps River flow backwards like they thought it did in 1812? Will it carve a new river bed from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico? What will happen to all the bridges? So, when these and the other worries begin to gang up, I take to my Daily Reading Bible. Usually, that is done late in the evening so that the last thing I have on my mind is the Word of God–maybe some Old Testament story about a hero or heroine. Or, maybe some New Testament Miracle with a unique twist to it. Something that proves the absolute authority of our Lord and Savior. Like the story about Lazarus: Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And, Lazarus came forth still wrapped in the grave cloths. Do you know why Jesus addressed Lazarus by name? Because if He had said, “Come forth!” Everybody in the cemetary would have walked out of their tombs. Now the Bible doesn’t say that. But, we all know that since God is all-powerful, anything He ask for gets done. And, done mighty quick. But, back to the Daily Reading Bible for a moment. It is a fitting way to end the day’s struggles. It brings peace of mind and leaves one with a complete sense of relief that the Almighty is still in charge. There is no better sleep than that which comes after “Thy will be done…” has been read and said just before the lights go out. Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalayim!
This brought tears to my eyes..I know I have closets & have been working on them for some time now; it seems though when I get alot of them cleaned out & when I start praying for loved ones esp, my adult children and grandchildren; I get attacked from the enemy on emotional levels. I’m sure he knows if he can knock me or try to knock me off my foundation I’ll give up & go backwards..He’s consistenly attacking my youngest daughter,single(27)doesn’t drink or party; pretty much a loner (a babe in Christ)and my prayer today would be whoever reads this, that they pray w/me to break the stronghold on her( from depression, stress,can’t lose weight(which she has been battling for 6 yrs now–never had a problem b/f her travels(which were job related) to S.Africa,Dubai & Japan which I know the spiritual darkness & Idols served in those countries. She was raised in a christian home & went to christian schools from 2nd grade to 10th…even then she’s always been the enemys target.She recently has started having migraines & neck problems; this has been in last 3 or 4 mos..I don’t fear, b/c I know our GOD is a Mighty GOD but I do stay concerned b/c I’m a mom & can’t be beside her to comfort & love on her. I just feel that m/b spirits have attached that are oppressing & attacking her and I don’t know what else to do but ask GOD’s family to please pray for blue eyes that lives in S.Carolina…that the Most High GOD,Adonai speak these spirtis to the pit & restore his own back to physical and emotional health & send someone to invite her to a spirt filled church where the word is preached like Pastor Jeff preaches so she can experience joy & peace the way God intended for her..Thank you!!!!
I will join in prayer for her. Read Deut 7:25+26. I will also ask God to show her if there is anything that she brought with from the East that causes her problems. In some of the temples of idols the priests will bless every one that visits – that can also cause a bondage. I will pray that God Himself will guide and bless you and her in this journey of discovery.
When I read “disarrayed closets”, I immediately began reorganising the closets in my mind, so much so, that I had to ask God to remove the closets between Him and myself, so that I could finish reading – glad I did!! It blessed me.
I can’t believe how much I needed this ! I couldn’t thank you enough