Do You Not Perceive It?
As a wife and mother who is home almost everyday, I am well aware of the state of our home…what needs cleaned, who took the tape for their latest invention, and where exactly the sour cream is in the fridge (far back, middle shelf). I am also fully aware of the times when my clutter threshold has been reached. We have four kids, we homeschool, and my hubs has a home office. These three beautiful facts equal a lot of STUFF!
(Just wait single friends…this will relate to you in a minute ;))
Back in November, I was really feeling overwhelmed and stressed about how crowded our house looked and felt. Wes and I agreed to have a “November Purge” and even called it by that name. Our oldest child was resistant of the idea right away. He has personal attachments to a lot of stuff and can remember all kinds of details that I often forget. Since Christmas was right around the corner, it was easy to explain that there wouldn’t be enough room for NEW toys if we kept all of the old stuff.
“We have to get rid of the old so we are ready for something new!”
Maybe you can already make the connection. There’s such symbolic, spiritual meaning to this statement. But we so often think we should hold on until the new comes.
Not so with the Lord!
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:18-19
What beautiful verses describing the new things the LORD wants to do in your life! And “do you not perceive it?”
Before having kids, I had tried to get a nannying gig with a family who found me through Care.com. After being with them for two days, I realized that their belief system was entirely different than mine. So much so that I felt it could end up being a difficult job to care for their children. The LORD gave me a picture of how to pray for them. “Dear God, open their hands that they may receive the grace you so badly want to give them.”
The Lord wanted to bless them and make Himself known to them, but their hands were holding on to their own religion and ideas. “God, open their hands….”
So what are you holding in your hands?
A past relationship? guilt? regret? The negative words someone said to you?
One more story…a few months ago I had a dream that has stayed with me. I can still picture it. I went into a room where there were was this huge gas stove top in the middle. Nine different burners were on with each one’s flame rising high. Nothing was cooking. I remember thinking in the dream that it seemed so odd to keep these flames going and saying, “why are all these on?” to the only person in the room. Later in the dream, I ran into a friend from high school who I hadn’t seen in a while. Once I started sharing this dream with Wes, I realized the meaning…PAST FLAMES! The LORD wanted me to “turn off” the past flames in my life. For me, this has to do with some friendships. Like anyone, I have had regrets about how some relationships have fizzled out or ended. I had been carrying around the weight of this regret for way too long. The LORD wanted me to experience the freedom in letting go and moving on.
I believe God wants the same for you.
Do you want our awesome, mighty God to make a way for you in the darkness? Bring a new relationship in your life? Give you peace in the midst of your circumstances?
Move on from your past and see the LORD work wonders!
Happy purging during (well perhaps before…wink wink) this NEW season!!
With sister-in-Christ love,
Korie Raley