I have a room outside my house that was previously used as a staff lounge. When it was no longer needed as that, it somehow turned into a storage space for everything that did not need to be keep inside the house. 

When I moved my mom out of her flat I housed all her stuff in that room. When we bought large items that came in even larger boxes, those boxes went into the storeroom. Old garden equipment gets stored there, files that are no longer needed along with discarded tools, books and old photo albums have been thrown in there as well. Then there’s the boxes and boxes of statements and documents that should have been thrown away years ago. There’s even some furniture that is no longer needed or that has been saved from my mom’s old flat.

Sometimes my heart feels a bit like that untidy and cluttered room. There are treasures that are no longer treasured, boxes that hold memories, grudges and unresolved issues as well as memorabilia of days gone by that are just sitting there covered in dust but no longer needed. Then there are the items that used to have a special place but have since been replaced by newer or more beautiful ones. Amongst all this paraphernalia are a few insecurities that I’ve harbored deep down inside when words that were meant as jokes hit their target and caused a lasting wound. These had nowhere to go and so they too got thrown into the storeroom. It’s been allowed to become a place of chaos, confusion and lingering reminders.

Every few months I get a sudden urge to purge. I will get stuck in a room or closet and get rid of piles and piles of unused stuff. I always feel so refreshed and empowered when I see the newly emptied space!

I’ve realised that what I need is a quiet, calm, orderly and peaceful space around me both physically and mentally but also spiritually.

What is piled up in your heart that prevents the free flow of peace?

When I take a ‘reality check’ walk through my heart and mind, I find there is a lot there that needs to be let go of and thrown out.

The “boxes“ that held feelings are being preserved way after the incident that caused them has passed. Right now those boxes take up space that could be freed up.

The old furniture could be restored and lovingly passed on to someone else in need – perhaps kindness and love to someone who is lonely and hurting?

What about the memorabilia that sits on shelves? What about if we could take it down, wipe it off, indulge it one more time and then let it go?

There is so much stuff that I get itchy just walking into that storeroom. When I sift through the storeroom of my heart I find it just as uncomfortable. There is way too much stuff being harbored there that no longer serves any purpose for me except for making me feel disheartened, sad, sometimes angry and often even regretful.

With January almost over now,  I think it’s time for a spring clean, an opportunity to allow God to fill those spaces with new thought patterns and a new peace. Perhaps I could even allow some space to remain open for new things He wants to place here.

What you use your heart space for will play a big role in how your year looks going forward. Filled up with yesterdays burdens or todays worries, it has the potential to steal your joy and cause your focus to be directed away from the many promises that God has spoken over you.

Grab a few mental cartons and begin to pack up wounds from the past along with the bitterness that has handcuffed you to yesterday, the New Years resolutions that have remained unfulfilled for decades and the regrets that have kept you small and ineffective.

Today is a day of new beginnings, clean open spaces and light burdens.

Once you’ve done the hard work, be sure to keep it clean! Don’t allow the same things back in that cluttered up the space in the first place – yes,even those unhealthy relationships that have stunted your growth and diminished your self worth.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:44-45 that if you cast out demons and leave the door open they will return to the cleaned space with many more in tow! Clutter invites more clutter…

Don’t forget to close the door as you take a last look at the boxes that you’ve filled up.

Lastly, look forward as step into the new wide open space you’ve created!

Above everything else, guard your heart; for it is the source of life’s consequences. Proverbs 4:23

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬