Every person has an outlook on life; he is seeking his highest joy. Outlook determines outcome…If life is to be rich and meaningful, then our joys must be the highest possible and Jesus tells us that the highest joy possible is to see God.
Warren Wiersbe, Live Like a King
A Constant Practice
I didn’t expect it to take me almost three months to write this follow-up post, misled into thinking I first had to complete my quest to address every single item in the dreaded closet to continue. Again, as I have sorted through so many things, I recognize this is a continual process. Not something to be completed, but a constant evaluation of what I allow to remain. I have rediscovered that learning to live intentionally involves so much more than just getting rid of stuff.
Retrospect
I frequently moved during my childhood; therefore, I spent a lot of my time packing and unpacking items, yet I don’t really remember them. As I went away to college, I took only essentials, leaving excess left behind. I never returned home to appreciate boxes and drawers filled with what I had abandoned.
Although the items left behind no longer held value to me, I just accepted them back into my household, box by box, as I entered adulthood. Instead of intentionally addressing the items, I began to reinforce the habit of thoughtlessly keeping and collecting things, placing value and sentiment onto lifeless items. I was unknowingly creating idols. Giving lifeless items importance, allowing them to steal my space, and hold me down, ultimately allowing them to steal my freedom.
Shifting to Intentionality
Breaking this cycle requires determining the reason for keeping or removing each thing. As I strive to live intentionally, I have to contemplate what I really want out of life? I know my resolution- Freedom. To be free of stuff, free of idols. Desiring to live open and honest and free, my actions, aligning with my values. Leading me to a place to establish a home to nurture family, and growth, and relationships. Home, a place of respite and a place to give my daughter wings to fly- experiencing life without managing stuff. To give each of us the ability to go anywhere, untethered, free.
It’s the fear of leaving the comfortable that held me back for so long. But, as I grow spiritually, I realize this fear is beginning to fade. Because of frequently practicing letting go, I was recently able to experience significant growth. I had an item, which I was more attached to than I had realized.
My Bible, which I had received from my Mom 22 years ago, had played a substantial part in building my relationship with Jesus; full of sentiment and built-in devotionals, my favorite verses marked, and well-worn pages. My Bible, which I thought was an integral part of my connection to Christ. And then, God asked me to give it away. Let go. Follow Him. And I did. The freedom and the growth I have experienced, already reaching so far beyond what I could have imagined! He tells us- Give- Store your treasure in heaven- Come- Follow Me… Trust Me.
Centrifugal Motion
Everything I have must continually be evaluated for purpose, recognizing changing circumstances. I can use each thing to learn from and share or allow it to become an idol. Treasure in heaven can not coexist with treasure on earth. The more I release back to Him, the more freedom I feel. The more I learn to trust, the more alive I become! Experiencing a taste of heaven in the midst of earth. Trusting Him has nothing to do with our bravery and sacrifice. It is the full acknowledgment of what He can do in our lives and what He has already done. We must take ourselves out of the equation, or else we will miss the point. I want nothing in my life that I can not let go of, in trust. He has shown me the beauty and the peace of releasing the comfortable.
Yes, our outlook determines the outcome —every day, a new opportunity to reevaluate what is truly important. I am learning I have to acknowledge, anything that takes me away from what really matters is only a distraction. Anything that takes away from peace in my soul, and time with God or His purpose, is an idol.
Through the removal of things from my life, I have discovered who I am. As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect…”
There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life.
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
