Confession is Good for ... Closet Space?

I have a confession to make.

I am a Messy. I have always been a Messy and I fear I always shall be a Messy. I can't help it. It's like a demented, chaotic force of nature, as though there is some big black hole inside my head where all the neatness and order gets sucked in and cannot escape. If I leave the mirror with shirt tucked in and face made, I will arrive in the kitchen with smeared mascara, a run in my stockings, and something unidentifiable on my shirt. If I clean house, my kids ask who is coming to dinner and my husband asks if he did something to make me mad. If robbers were to come, I'm not sure I would realize the house had been ransacked.

Of course, there's always a reason. There's not enough storage. I was at work and didn't feel like doing it when I got home. I can find almost anything my family asks for, so what's the problem with stacks of papers everywhere? I'm easily distracted. I can't vacuum today because David's got a migraine and the noise hurts his head.

Well, the problem is that I can't enjoy the stuff I want to do because there's too much stuff that I need to do. Things in the kitchen expire because they aren't used when there's a pile of stuff blocking the way. I hate saying "No" to my kids having friends over because there's too much laundry on the couch. There's no room to spread out on the table to do a craft project - OK, I have to move stuff just so there's room for dinner.

So, I cleaned out a couple of closets and the pantry and now there are 5 extra bags of trash (on top of an old Christmas tree box) waiting for the nice men in the big truck to come tomorrow and haul it away. I felt much better. My dog even caught me just standing in my walk-in pantry. Did you know there's carpet all over the floor in the study? I hadn't seen it in a while.

But what about the stuff inside me? The flotsam and jetsam in my house is one thing, but the flotsam and jetsam in my soul is more serious. What kind of baggage am I dragging around in my mind and spirit? What kind of garbage is cluttering up my heart and spoiling my joy? What do I need to let go of and part with so I can have some peace?

And just like my seeming helplessness in my house, I cannot change my heart of my own accord. I can resolve to do better, but without God's help, the old habits and hurts resurge and blossom until I am no better than before.

Paul said "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2: 2-6) Jesus emptied Himself of his pride and glory to do what needed to be done for the glory of the Father.

How much more should we, who have no righteousness of our own, be willing to trade away our garbage-filled minds and let our minds be transformed into the Christ-like mind the Father has planned for us?

O Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth, renew my mind, clean out the stuff in the corners, throw out the junk, scrub me clean, and fill me with the mind of Christ.

anything but typical