FILTERING UTENSIL DRAWERS AND SCHEDULES
Kendra Intihar
Today's Scripture: “...to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,..” Ephesians 4:22-23, ESV
Theme: Put down all of the things you have in your life and filter them through God’s Word.
TWO TURKEY BASTERS
We will experience plenty of pivotal moments in our lives that send us suddenly in a new direction. I’ve had many, but one of the weirdest was more than a decade ago when I was packing our little apartment up for our big move to North Carolina. I opened up my utensil drawer – you know the one. It’s the one that opens two inches and then BAM! It slams to a sudden halt because “big ladle” is a vampire that hates the light of day (that’s the story I tell myself, anyway).
I wedged my hand in, pushed down the ladle, opened the drawer triumphantly, and for the first time, I saw it: we owned two turkey basters. I remember pulling out the two basters and staring at them, trying to imagine why a family that bastes exactly ONE turkey a year could possibly need TWO turkey basters. No one in that kitchen besides me was basting turkeys, and I am talented, but I’m not “baste-a-turkey-with-both-hands-simultaneously” talented.
ORGANIZED CLUTTER IS STILL CLUTTER
Time stood still while I was holding those two turkey basters in my hands. Until that moment, I had been a collector of things. My house had been packed to the gills with stuff. I kept the Container Store in business because I thought the solution to clutter was putting it in a basket, box, or bin. I stored out-of-date décor and clothing items because “they’ll probably be back in style one day!” The more things I had, the happier I thought I would be. But in that instant, the absurdity of “stuff” struck me so clearly and so dramatically that I became a lifelong declutterer. It truly was that fast. I did a blog series on it, I joined decluttering groups, I ruthlessly cleared out closets and cabinets and cupboards. And when I was done, I started over again. I wanted less. Less felt good. Less felt peaceful. Less felt easier to keep clean and maintain. When it came to keeping my possessions in check, I learned a valuable lesson: organized clutter is still clutter.
The colloquialism about the "trappings” of life seems particularly applicable to possessions. The fewer things, activities, and burdens you have, the less “trapped” you are by them. I know this to be true because I used to have a house full of attractive knickknacks, tchotchkes, dust-collectors, and multiples of items I would never use. I have since established a decade-long habit of editing these things out of my life when they neither make sense nor bring me any particular joy (thanks, Marie Kondo!).
“DOES IT SPARK JOY?”
Marie Kondo’s “joy” filter has been an enduring metaphor in my life of how God would have us filter everything we say and do through the lens of His Word and His desires for our lives. When I add things to my home (or keep things I don’t need) without sifting them through the “joy” filter, my burdens become heavier. It takes longer to clean, it causes me to place value in the wrong things, it gives me extra stuff to have to insure, maintain, dust, outsource, worry about, and accidentally forget.
Similarly, when I fail to seek God’s direction in the decisions I make for myself and my family, I add stress. Or, said differently, when I fail to sift my plans through His Word, I often end up adding financial strain, hassle, increased anxiety, and a myriad of other little bees that buzz around in my head, reminding me of my poor decisions.
If you read the devotion I wrote yesterday, then you know I’m on an intentional path toward a more peaceful, “decluttered” schedule. Over time, I’ve developed a good habit of removing unnecessary possessions out of my life, but I’ve done a terrible job of editing my time so that I can un-busy myself and allow myself room to go where God would send me. The problem is that even though my schedule is highly organized and regimented, it’s still cluttered. I’m still learning that “organized clutter is still clutter.”
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He made time to go off by Himself to pray. He often changed course when someone came to Him with an urgent need. Jesus made Himself available by not being overwhelmed. The Lord had “no place to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20), yet He had everything He needed to accomplish His work here. He never penciled people into His calendar, but He did what was required of Him. He sought the Father, and He made space for rest, for miracles, and for life-change. When we begin following Jesus, this is what is asked of us, too: To seek the Father and to leave room for Him to rid our lives of anything that would draw us away from fellowship with Him.
Make it Personal: In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says that, in Christ, we are called to give up our old ways and our old desires and to put on our NEW self, which has been created in the likeness of God (Ephesians 4:17-24). The newness He has borne in us means that we have the freedom to resist the “clutter” of our old life and pursue His plans. Consider the extra stuff (possessions, activities, thoughts, etc.) in your life that may be hindering your relationship with God. Ask God to nudge your spirit. Trust that nothing you’re clinging to in this world will give you more peace and freedom than what God has planned for you.
Pray: Lord, You see the extra stuff I’m carrying that You never asked me to carry. I know that Your Word says Your burden is light. Show me the things I’m hanging on to that are heavy and that are not Your best for me. Shake me free from them so that I can experience the lightness of Your yoke. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Read: Romans 12:2; Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 43:18-19
Weekly Memory Verse: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV