So, I keep getting this alert on my phone that says, “storage capacity running out”. It’s actually really annoying. It pops up at least once a month. What can I say? I love taking pictures and videos. So when this alert pops up, I already know that it means I need to go through and delete some things from my phone (if I wanted to add other things to it in the future). So, as was my typical monthly ritual, I proceeded to clean out my phone, but only just enough so that I could have some space to add other things to it in the future.
Once my phone was clear, I logged into my computer to check my email. “Mailbox Almost Full” was the alert that popped up when I opened my inbox. Dang it. Here we go again. I proceed to delete old and sent messages left and right. But again, I only cleaned it out enough to make the alert go away and then I logged off and kept it moving.
Then it dawned on me. Perhaps this just wasn’t a coincidence that both my phone and email were so full of clutter that they needed to be cleaned. Perhaps, God was trying to show me something else. Perhaps…hmm, perhaps, this was God’s way of telling me that my life needed to be clear of the clutter that was keeping me from him. Except, God didn’t want me to just clear out the bare minimum as I had done with my phone and email. He wanted me to go through a spiritual transformation. To fully clear my spirit, mind, and heart of the negative, sinful things that were plaguing my walk with him.
“A cluttered spirit allows little to no room for God to move in your life”
You see, periodically, we all need to go through and evaluate ourselves and our lives and identify those things in life that constantly clutter our spirit. It’s what I like to call a “Spiritual Spring Cleaning”. Just as we go through our homes and clear out the clutter every Spring, we too, need to set aside time to clear out our cluttered spirits. A cluttered spirit allows little to no room for God to move in your life.
For me, there were certain people and sinful habits that I needed to let go of and break. I hadbeen wondering why I didn’t feel like God was talking to me or answering my prayers and he showed me, every time I try to talk to you, you pick up your phone and entertain this text or this phone call from Mr. “All-Kinds-of-Wrong”, instead of picking up the main line and talking to me. Or you decide you want to go out to a happy hour, and “turn-up” (as you folks say) with your girls, instead of taking 15-30 minutes to “turn-up” with me in my word.
“I miss you”, Jesus said. And instantly, I was overcome with remorse. Jesus, who had been #1 in my life, had been moved to last all because I was filling my spirit with everything but him. I knew that I had to work on clearing that clutter and work on putting him back first in my life.So what is it for you that’s cluttering up your spirit? What things and/or people is your spirit saying, “capacity running out”? Perhaps it’s a relationship that’s draining all of your energy as you constantly struggle with straddling that line between sexual purity and sexual promiscuity. Perhaps, it’s a job that you’ve become so engrossed in that you have no time for friends, family or even God. Perhaps, it’s your quest for money, you know, your hustle, that’s caused you to idolize and thirst for wealth, fortune and material possessions even more than you thirst for God. Or even perhaps it’s your need to present this holy, Christian perception of yourself by getting so overly involved in church and church-related activities that you don’t even make quiet time to be with the Man you are serving.
Hebrews 12:1-2, says “therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith”. (NIV)
I don’t want you to miss that part, throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. This is what it means to transform your spirit and free yourself of the clutter. We have to throw off those things and let go of thosepeople who are causing a barrier between us and God. I will be the first to admit that I’m not fully there yet. And that’s okay. Your spiritual journey, is just that – a journey. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect overnight. It’s a process. But he yearns to be apart of your process. Of your journey. Won’t you make room for him in your spirit? I know I will…
~V.Davis
OnlyLadyV 