Ben Wilson, LPC

He will quiet you with his love – Our call to rest

Be Simple

God made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. Acts 17:26 MSG

When our lives are cluttered, there is not only no time and space for our stuff, there is typically also no
room for others, including God.  

Life Clutter: Many of us clutter our lives with stuff, tasks, etc. I have a confession to make. We are pile people. I tend to just move piles from one place to another…I don’t necessarily do anything with the pile, I just move it. And boy when I finally do something with it…I make a big mess before I get it sorted out and put away.

There is (or was…I don’t have cable anymore) a TLC show called Clean Sweep. A team of ‘experts’ visit a cluttered home and help people sort their clutter into 3 piles:

The Keep pile – what you can’t live without

The Throw Away pile – what you do not need

The Give Away pile – what can be used to help others

This is a good idea to do on a regular basis, even if your home wouldn’t be classified as a disaster zone.
Simplify. With less clutter, I can more easily focus on the task at hand instead of getting distracted by the piles I have moved from here to there and wondering where their final resting place should really be. I can more easily find what I need without having to look for it forever or look through 10 piles until I find it. In a word, I truly feel more settled.

Soul Clutter

We also clutter our souls, but we stuff them full of emotional clutter. Things like: believing lies we’ve been told, rebellion, rejection, fears, drivenness and perfectionism, isolation, control, heartache,  bitterness, shopping, a critical spirit…the list goes on and on and on…. And just as we do with our life clutter, we tend to just move our soul clutter around in our souls and hearts. We don’t want to
have to make that big mess to sort it out and put it all away, where it truly belongs. But many times, that is what is required. We can use the same Clean Sweep principles:

The Keep pile – what you can’t live without – what is most true about you.

The Throw Away pile – what you do not need – the lies of the bully and other distorted beliefs.

A Giveaway pile – what can be used to help others – giving yourself away because once you’ve
been through the clutter and you know what it’s like to live in the midst of it and sort through it… be willing to help others do the same.  

This, too, is a good idea to do on a regular basis, even if your soul isn’t a capital M Mess. Simplify. With less mess, I can more easily focus on the task at hand instead of getting distracted by the shame, guilt, unworthiness, insecurity and more that keep popping up rather than putting them in the Throw Away pile for good. I can more easily see the truth of what God says about me, that I am a beautiful daughter of God that He bestows with Grace in abundance. I truly feel humbled that He would choose to Love me enough that He wants me to find Rest in His love and redemption. In a word, I truly feel more settled.