Spring Cleaning Feels Great!

It’s getting the time of year to do spring cleaning around the house. Old movies often depicted the maid raising a rug and just sweeping everything underneath.  The problem with that tactic is that eventually there will be a huge lump under the rug and someone’s bound to trip over it, probably the maid who created it!  Closets need to be cleaned as well. How often do we find ourselves opening a closet door to find that things literally fly out at us! We find ourselves attacked by the very thing that we tried to store away, hidden from sight.  This is a good time to box up things lying around the house too.  The only problem with boxing things up is if we don’t go through the box and throw certain things away and file other things where they need to go, we’re going to find ourselves carrying around this huge box of junk and we’ll be bent over. No matter where we put it, we’re going to have to pick it up and move it around again. 

I know there’s a lot of dirt in our lives isn’t there? Some of you have been trying to sweep it under the rug, make things look tidy. Fix it where on the outside it all looks neat and orderly but underneath, in the heart, beneath the surface, it’s a big mess. And unless you deal with it beloved, it’s going to get bigger and bigger and eventually it will trip you up and cause damage.

I know there’s a lot of junk in the closet of our hearts.  We may try to stuff it and keep the door closed, keeping it hidden, but eventually it will burst open, because beloved, on our own we cannot fix the junk of the heart. Trying to stuff it away will eventually come back to hit us smack in the face.  We have to deal with it correctly.

That box you keep carrying around? It only held a thing or two at first, but now it’s heavy, oh so heavy. One thing leads to another and while you keep setting it aside from time to time, unless you give that box of stuff to someone who can sort it out for you.  It’s going to get heavier and heavier and spill over the top isn’t it beloved?

Oh beloved! It’s time to rejoice!  Unlike spring cleaning, heart cleaning never has to be done alone!  You have Someone Who knows how to deal with the things you’ve swept into the recesses of your heart.  The anger, the self-hate, the hurts, the disappointments.  He will help you! Together both you and He will go and clean it up the way only He can! And when God does the clean up it will never trip you up or cause you to fall!  Let the Lord peer into the closet of your heart.  He knows what’s in there anyway and He loves you! Unlike a friend who might be astonished at the mess contained inside, the Lord will never look down on you or get disgusted.  He loves you so He wants to do the cleaning out Himself!  Let Him! Give Him the door and the key – for He will astonish you with His complete work and your face will be radiant as you enjoy the work of His hands.  While you’re at it, you might as well give Him the box of junk – past regrets, future fears, present troubles – He knows you’re tired of carrying it around, hiding it behind your back when you feel His presence, keeping it covered moved around.  Not only will God take these burdensome things in your box, He’ll take the box! Oh beloved you were never meant to carry it around anyway!

God says to you this morning, let Me! Let Me! Everything you are trying to do, fix, repair, clean up, I have made a way to do for you! Just Let Me! Together we will walk through the house of your heart and as I do clean up you will find rest and begin to enjoy the entire life I have given you.  Today, if you will hand over the unforgiveness, anger, hurt, fear, worry, mistakes, sins…give it all – you will find that when I clean house, it’s completely done.  Because I love you I will take it all on Myself. All you have to do is keep bringing it to Me, and I will always take it and dispose of it. And I will sing love songs to you all the while I work. Because I love you, I will sing and clean!  I love you and I’m for you and that’s all that really matters!

Proverbs 23:26 Give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in My ways.

Psalm 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

I Peter 5:7 Cast all your burdens on the Lord, for He cares for you.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.